Last month’s Engineering News Record Magazine contained an editorial noting the worst projects of the year. Are you prepared if you have a bad project?

Craig Martin, Construction Attorney, Lamson Dugan & Murray LLP

As the editors aptly pointed out:

By their nature, bad projects disappoint owners, incite hostility among team members, slip months and years past scheduled completions and drain finances.

ENR pointed noted a few projects from 2014 that did not go well.  They included:

Wayne County Jail, Detroit, where county employees failed to convey the true costs of the project.

Veterans’ Hospital, Aurora, Colorado, where the VA breached its agreement with Kiewit-Turner by failing to provide plans for a project that could be built within budget.

State Route 99 Tunneling, Seattle, where the tunnel-boring machine broke down within days of the start and has yet to be fixed.

Bad projects clearly happen. But, are you prepared if a project does go off the rails?

  • Are your contracts in place to provide you with the maximum protection?
  • Have you complied with the notification requirements contained in the contract?
  • Have you obtained the most effective insurance coverage?

The beginning of the year is a great time to review your policies and procedures. Take some time this year to look at your contracts, subcontracts, record keeping and other procedures. You may find it’s time to update them.

Authored by Craig Martin, Lamson, Dugan & Murray, LLP.