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Subcontractor claims-Cable pulling

10 replies [Last post]
Balu Karunakaran
User offline. Last seen 12 years 26 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 32
My company is into subcontracting of cable pulling for a big project.Iam facing some real stumbling blocks for EOT as given.

1.The prerequisites for cable pulling were delayed,which are not fully documented .What are the chances of getting an EOT.

2.The OD in baseline is much less than the actual onsite conditions.i.e when the OD for a cable pulling activity is 1,when the actual onsite duration is months

3.We didnt have much sophistication on the site and there was lack of supervision which made the project delayed and we exceeded our contractual duration.Is there any chances when we submit our EOT they can impose liquidated damages?

4.We dont have any preliminaries included in the BOQ,how can this be claimed?What % of the contractual value is usually EOT value?

Anticipating support from the members

Regards
Balu

Replies

S Z
User offline. Last seen 3 years 37 weeks ago. Offline

Hi,

 

I want to design a plan in primavera6 for electrical wire pulling that is 7000 meter in different area (Ground Cabling), can anyone help me out?

 

I will be very thankful.

 

NOTE: If you already have in primavera 6 (.xer) format please share @ ... use private message server

Samer Zawaydeh
User offline. Last seen 5 years 39 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 3 Aug 2008
Posts: 1664
Dear Balu,

It depends on the conditions of contract. If you have an arbitration clause, then you need to read it and apply it. If you do not have an arbitration clause, then if you can not solve the problems amicably, you need to go to cour. This will take years and you will end up paying a lot of money to the lawyers. Unless you contract is big enough to take care of these costs, it would be advisable to come to an amicable settlement.

The damages that the subcontractor did to the project must be assessed and the EXTRA cost identified with completing his scope of work to be estimated at the earliest. If that is less than the legal cost, then you should drop that case.

Claims are initiated when an event arise. You should read your conditions of contract and understand at what stage you need to inform your client with the possibility for extra cost. When the event is completed and your extra cost is identified exactly, then you must submit your claim completely.

I hope that the information assisted you in some way.

With kind regards,

Samer
Balu Karunakaran
User offline. Last seen 12 years 26 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 32
Thanks for the wonderful insights.

Dear Samer.The issue was that the works were subcontracted to another company and left without any project management and a legal case is on with them.We do have good rapport with the maincontractor after our subcontractor was thrown out of the site.

As Ken stated a careful analysis of the subcontract can only give a solution to this issue.

With your experience ,can you advise me on where exactly the claims in GCC countries can be placed if you draw a line with relationships in the extreme end and Strict contractual adherence on the right end.

Regards
Balu
Samer Zawaydeh
User offline. Last seen 5 years 39 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 3 Aug 2008
Posts: 1664
Dear Balu,

It does not affect the delay analysis. It affects accepting the event as a delay event. It seems that you have a sudden sense of urgency for the reason of end of project duration.

You might be able to solve this issue to the agreement of both parties depending on the status of performance and the Main Contractor’s delivery schedule.

With kind regards,

Samer
Ken Sadler
User offline. Last seen 4 years 3 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 71
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You will have to carefully read the relevant clauses to see whether failure to comply prevents EOT or recovery of costs, i.e. whether the clauses are conditions precedent.

It is unlikely that you would be prevented from recovering time / money if you have provided notices even if they are not in the proscribed form as the other party cannot argue that they were unaware of the circumstances, but again, only a careful review of the contract would reveal this.

Balu Karunakaran
User offline. Last seen 12 years 26 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 32
What if all the contractual obligations like providing notices at frequent intervals are not met?Will it affect the delay analysis.
We do have emails and other communications given to the maincontractor but not in the contractual form.
Ken Sadler
User offline. Last seen 4 years 3 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 71
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Hi Balu

It doesn’t matter that your BQ has no separate items for prelims and overheads - you must have included them in the rates and therefore there is still an allowance.

The recovery of loss and expense or damages should be the actual loss so reference to a prelim section is not necessary and often disregarded even if there is a prelim schedule.

If you can isolate the delay events and the down-time, you have a chance of establishing recoverable cost.

Good luck

Balu Karunakaran
User offline. Last seen 12 years 26 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 32
Thanks Samir and Mike

The glitch in the BOQ is that there is no overhead or preliminaries included.

The actual dates for pulling are in place but the substantiation of the delay is the issue.There are some documents but not complete.

And i presume that to go ahead with disruption we need to have documents for idle mandays and such,which unfortunately we lack even.
Mike Testro
User offline. Last seen 1 day 10 hours ago. Offline
Joined: 14 Dec 2005
Posts: 4420
Hi Balu

What a mess.

My experience of a cable pulling sub-contract is that there is no discernable critical path in the contract programme.

You will therefore have to rely on a comparison of the planned programme against the As Built programme.

Presumably you have a programme that is attached to your sub contract showing the periods of time when you were expected to be pulling cables.

I would hope that you also have a record of when you were actually pulling cables.

If so you need to set up a comparison of the planned dates against the actual dates.

This need not be on a bar chart - a spreadsheet will do as long as you use numbered dates and not text.

I am also assuming that you started pulling cables in any one section as soon as you were given clearance to do so.

Provided you can demonstrate that you were delayed then the difference of planned to actual will be a good basis for your claim for EOT.

Regarding costs Ken Sadler can give you expert advice but as a starting point you wil need to establish what was the Overhead Costs that were included in your BOQ rates.

This is a simple calculation of the non productive elements that were necessary to be deployed during the planned period.

It may be that a simple linear projection of the planned costs against the actual will be sufficient.

A potentially larger cost claim is disruption and inefficient deployment of labour and plant.

We can discuss this head of claim later if you can make any use of the above advice.

Best regards

Mike Testro
Samer Zawaydeh
User offline. Last seen 5 years 39 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 3 Aug 2008
Posts: 1664
Dear Balu,

The most important thing you can do is to read your conditions of contract. Then you need to understand the contractual requirements of your company.

Answer #1: Start by fully documenting the delays from the other side. On a daily basis. Send it to the Engineer or the other party.

Answer #2: If your Program does not represent the actual progress on site, then you need to document that also and ask for a revised schedule.

Answer #3: Of course, until you secure an extension of time, the other side will hold the L.D. until the issue is resolved.

Answer #4: Make sure that you document the expenses of your company well. This will go a long way in submitting your claim for EOT and the associated cost with it.

Read your contract documents well, and if you have more specific questions, please ask.

With kind regards,

Samer