Scope of Work – Baseline<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n This McLaughlin and McLaughlin (M&M)<\/b><\/a> post is the sixth in a Subject Series<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Construction Claims and Disputes<\/b>. \u00a0This Subject Series<\/a> contains discussions regarding potential and actual construction claims and disputes situations.<\/p>\n In the realm of construction claims and disputes<\/b>, claims regarding scope of work are the largest or highest single category.\u00a0 The George Washington University publication Construction Contracting<\/span><\/i> states that \u201cNot surprisingly, specifications and plans are the focal point of most construction contract performance disputes and requests for price adjustments.\u201d\u00a0 While this source pertains to US Federal government contracting, the same pattern can be seen in the private sector on a worldwide basis.\u00a0 Even more general, scope of work disputes extend beyond construction contracting, into engineering and procurement in the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) industry.<\/p>\n This series of posts will address scope of work within the overall subject of Construction Claims and Disputes<\/b>.\u00a0 Since disputes and claims regarding scope of work are such a pervasive problem, some degree of detail will be presented.\u00a0 Further, the majority of the discussion will address entitlement to recovery (rather than pricing or quantum).<\/p>\n The source of all disputes and claims is departures from the baseline.\u00a0 These variances (cost, time or other) create the dispute.\u00a0 Therefore, understanding the baseline is essential.<\/p>\n In construction claims and disputes<\/b>, the baseline is (almost always) the contract<\/span>.\u00a0 The contract is the \u201cdeal\u201d or the agreement between the parties.\u00a0 While it must meet several legal tests, the contract is the baseline that will be the focus of this discussion.\u00a0 You must have, know and understand the contract<\/span>, or at least all portions and provisions that relate to scope of work<\/span>.<\/p>\n Success in this area of claims and disputes depends almost exclusively on how well you know the contract.\u00a0 More specifically, how well you know and understand the scope of work.<\/p>\n Later in this post, the formulation of a Claims Management Plan (CMP)<\/b> is discussed and related to contract scope of work<\/span>.<\/p>\n Terminology and definitions that are used include:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Works\u201d \u2013 The works are the subject of the construction contract, the completion of which is the responsibility of C (contractor) and which result in the building or engineering project, or the execution of that part of the construction project.\u201d (Pickavance)\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cProject Scope\u201d \u2013 The work that must be performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions. (PMBOK)<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cScope\u201d \u2013 What will be provided. (Wickwire) <\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n In Construction Change Order Claims<\/span><\/i>, Callahan presents the following two elaborations:<\/p>\n [A] Work Clause<\/b><\/p>\n The typical work clause provides:<\/p>\n The term \u201cWork\u201d means the construction and services required by the Contract Documents, whether completed or partially completed, and includes all other labor, materials, equipment and services provided or to be provided by the Contractor to fulfill the Contractor\u2019s obligations.\u00a0 The Work may constitute the whole or a part of the project.<\/p>\n The work clause stands as a bar to recovery for extra work, unless the contractor can prove that the work performed was outside the contractor\u2019s obligations, as defined by the relevant contract documents.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [B] Scope-of-Work Clause<\/b><\/p>\n The typical scope-of-work clause allows the owner and contractor to be as broad or as narrow as they wish in defining what will constitute \u201cthe work.\u201d\u00a0 It is critical, however, that both the contractor and owner understand the importance of the scope of work clause and that each party understands as precisely as possible the work to be done for the agreed payment.<\/p>\n [Snip]<\/p>\n The drafter of the scope-of-work clause should carefully examine all the documents related to the project.\u00a0 Among those are the plans and specifications, the instructions provided to the bidders on the project, the bid and bid estimates submitted by the contractor awarded the job, correspondence, shop drawings, and all other provisions of the agreement (even though these documents may not be a part of the contract documents).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n In the ABA publication Construction Damages and Remedies<\/a>,<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 Chapter 7 separates Contractor and Subcontractor Remedies for Breach into (among others) Changes within the Scope of the Contract and Changes beyond the Scope of the Contract.\u00a0 Of course, the implication is that one understands the scope of the contract, including scope of work.<\/p>\n In Allen and Martin\u2019s Construction Law Handbook<\/span><\/i><\/a>, \u00a0the discussion regarding Changes and Extras states:<\/p>\n Few projects are completed with no changes or extras to the original contract documents.\u00a0 A \u201cchange\u201d is defined as an alteration to an existing contract requirement concerning the work that is already required to be done.\u00a0 An \u201cextra,\u201d on the other hand, is an addition to the contract involving work that had not been included in the original agreement.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n When we consider the Contract, it must include all contents and 100% of the entire document.\u00a0 This includes:<\/p>\n Scope of work portions of the contract (imperative that you have all of the documents, not excerpts, lists or opinions by others):<\/p>\n In this area, seek advice from competent and experienced advisor.\u00a0 Types of advisors include: contract administrator, contract manager, contract attorney, project controls manager, technical manager, business manager, commercial project manager and any other subject matter expert that is comfortable with the form of contract in question.\u00a0 The focus is on understanding the contract baseline scope of work<\/span>.<\/p>\n Common mistakes include using the Request for Proposal or the proposal (bid) as the contract.\u00a0 Routinely, these documents are excluded or selectively included in the actual signed contract.\u00a0 Other mistakes include using contract documents that have not been properly administered or kept current (such as changes entered).<\/p>\n Look for scope of work<\/span>, scope of facilities<\/span>, scope of services<\/span>, scope of supply<\/span> and other allocations of required efforts to complete the project.\u00a0 Consider what party will provide design, equipment, materials, construction support, site infrastructure, completion and other aspects of a completed project.<\/p>\n As an example, consider that the contract scope of work requires the contractor to perform mechanical erection of a piece of equipment that is supplied by others (commonly called \u201cfree issue equipment\u201d or \u201cowner-furnished equipment\u201d). \u00a0This interface needs to be well defined.\u00a0 Precision regarding the status of preassembly and detailed erection instructions can become issues.\u00a0 Vendor support is important.\u00a0 Handling fabrication problems rework and missing parts should be addressed in the scope of work.<\/p>\n M&M<\/b><\/a> recommends the preparation and use of a Claims Management<\/b> Plan (CMP).<\/b>\u00a0 In formulating the CMP<\/strong>, prepare a matrix of contract scope of work items compared to (verse) parties to the contract and stakeholders.\u00a0 Use this effort to identify gaps and interfaces.\u00a0 The gaps and interfaces should be used to prepare and focus the strategy and plan for the scope of work portion of the CMP<\/b>.<\/p>\n We wish you good luck in your construction claims and disputes challenges and endeavors.\u00a0 Enlightened understanding of contract scope of work is a fundamental key to success.\u00a0 Develop a Claims<\/b> Management Plan<\/b> (owners, prime contractors and subcontractors) and follow the plan.<\/p>\n McLaughlin and McLaughlin<\/b><\/a>\u00a0 has extensive experience and expertise in major construction claims and disputes<\/b>.\u00a0 This experience includes work for both owners and contractors.\u00a0 Further, the experience includes testimony on this topic.<\/p>\n It is important to note that McLaughlin and McLaughlin [M&M]<\/b><\/a> is not a law firm and is not intending to provide legal advice.\u00a0 M&M<\/b><\/a> is a consulting firm providing (among other services) non-legal expertise in construction claims, dispute resolution and litigation support.\u00a0 The Resource Center is for the convenience of blog visitors and M&M<\/b> <\/a>does not offer this for commercial purposes.\u00a0 For further information on M&M<\/b> <\/a>services, please see<\/i> <\/i>www.<\/strong><\/a>McLaughlinandMcLaughlin.com<\/a>.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Scope of Work – Baseline This McLaughlin and McLaughlin (M&M) post is the sixth in a Subject Series\u00a0\u00a0Construction Claims and Disputes. \u00a0This Subject Series contains discussions regarding potential and actual construction claims and disputes situations. In the realm of construction claims and disputes, claims regarding scope of work are the largest or highest single category.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[9,49,16,8],"tags":[236,208,230,218,219,228,232,127,126,237,181],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/MC900300842-1.bmp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1508"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1512,"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions\/1512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projectprofessionals.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n