Forensics Services.
Construction crisis consulting services for MENA giga projects.
Specifications Interpretation.
Construction projects and construction problems start approximately at the same time. Sometimes specifications are defective, other times they are ambiguous and may be legally unenforceable. Contractors pass their eyes over “standard clause” provisions with little thought to the potential ramifications. Frequently, the requirement of “or approved equal” should in fact be “or approved equivalent”.
In United States v. Spearin, the United States Supreme Court held that, “if the contractor is bound to build according to plans and specifications prepared by the owner, the contractor will not be responsible for the consequences of defects in the plans and specifications.”
CMA is able to review the specifications to ensure the following:
The project specifications are written in the imperative mood, not the indicative or subjunctive mood.
The project specifications are free of non-measurable standards through "escape clauses" such as "as directed by the engineer," "to the satisfaction of the engineer," or "satisfactory to the engineer.”
The specifications are devoid of veiled sole-source suppliers and manufacturers, unless so specified as Provisional Sum.
The specifications are devoid of protection clauses, for example “to the best quality”, usually encountered because the designer is not sure of the quality to specify.
The designer considered the relationship between the specifications and the drawings.
In interpreting the specifications, we presume that each word in a contract is included for a reason and is intended to convey some part of the parties’ intentions. The whole contract will be examined in an effort to reconcile ambiguities and conflicts.
Get specifications interpretation support.
Sometimes, contractors, project owners and developers run into highly specific problems on their projects that require outside expertise for a few weeks or months.
They call on us for short term support in specifications interpretation, as well as other areas including conditions of contract analysis, measurement disputes, construction methods, engineering delay analysis, cost to completion.
If you would like to learn more about how CMA partners with contractors, project owners and developers for leadership support on MENA giga projects in crisis, please book a meeting.