Conceptualization of the Contractor’s Project Management Group Dynamics in Claims Initiation and Documentation Evolution

The contemporary process for construction claims and disputes administration normally involves several stages, including event notification, claim particulars, engineer determination, adjudication decision, and amicable settlement attempt, before, if not settled, the matters in dispute are finally referred to arbitration or litigation for a binding resolution. The direct implication from a contractor’s perspective, being the party to typically initiate claims, is the need to maintain an adequate management setup in order to justify eligibility, quantify impacts, and retrieve or generate relevant evidential documentation, all in support of such an evolving multistep process. This paper presents an overall framework for conceptualizing the documentation evolution along the claim and dispute timeline based on the burden-of-proof requirements deduced from standard contract conditions language governing the administration of claims and disputes, in addition to a proposed categorization of the classes of substantiating documentation. It further reports on the results of an in-depth investigation of the project management group dynamics, emanating from dealing with 15 major classes of events, identified as entitling contractors to time extensions and/or additional compensations, subject to the fulfillment of a contract’s claims-related requirements. The research outcomes unequivocally reveal the critical roles expected of project management team members from outside the contract administration area, including primarily the construction site management, control, and engineering staff, and to a lesser degree the quality assurance and control staff, in crucial functions related to the identification of the events giving rise to claims and the evaluation and documentation mechanisms to follow thereafter.