Forensics Services.

Construction crisis consulting services for MENA giga projects.

Engineering Delay Analysis.

On an average, engineering involving the submission of material, equipment, shop drawings, fabrication drawings, mix designs, method statements and other technical submittals exhaust at least 30% of a project’s construction duration. Frequently, delays in engineering constitute a major cause of delay to a project.

The necessity of shop drawings is driven by the need to bridge the gap between the design documents and construction documents. In the words of Arthur F. O’Leary – an architect renowned in forensic architecture, and an arbitrator – shop drawings are a “necessary evil.”

Action Submittals requiring an Engineer’s responsive action (as opposed to Informational Submittals), result in multiple re-submissions particularly in respect of shop drawings. 

Both the initial review period and the resubmission review period granted to the Engineer must be indicated in the specifications. As such, the Contractor’s schedule should account for one round of resubmissions to ensure that the progress of the works is not affected.

Once the Engineer provides all the comments and requests for modifications upon initial review, and if the Contractor complies fully with these requirements, the amended shop drawings are resubmitted only once. However, there are often numerous resubmissions: under the pressure of reviewing within a certain time frame, Engineers may return a shop drawing in advance of a comprehensive review. Conversely, Contractors often fail to comply with the entirety of the Engineer’s review comments, thus justifying rejection. As a consequence, there is a series of resubmissions that may ultimately delay the progress of the project.

At times, the design is being developed by the Engineer through the process of submittals and re-submittals.

As such, the Contractor needs to provide evidence demonstrating that the progress of the work was held back due to delays in shop drawing approval. Liability arising from the Engineer’s tardiness in the processing of shop drawings was demonstrated in Sterling Millwrights, Inc. v. United States. 

There are numerous examples of structural failures due to improper shop drawings. An appalling example of the disastrous consequences of improper shop drawings is the changes that were applied to the shop drawings for a suspended walkway in a Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. The Engineer approved the shop drawings showing the connection changes. Post construction and delivery, the walkways collapsed in the midst of a crowded event, killing 114 people and injuring hundreds of others.

At CMA, we have the expertise to carry out forensic delay analysis to detect piece-meal reviews and approvals by the Engineer and to determine whether the Engineer can be held responsible for delays to the project, mindful that a Contractor’s non-compliant submittal does not negate the contract requirements. 

Get engineering delay analysis 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 conditions of engineering delay analysis, as well as other areas including conditions of contract analysis, measurement disputes, construction methods, specifications interpretation, 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.

About.

Construction Management Associates delivers high performance management for construction projects. Executives and project leaders partner with us to maximize speed and efficiency from pre-design to post-construction. We implement best-in-class practices across project management, design management, contract management, claims management and forensics services. We have supported leading developers and contractors in 7 countries in the Middle East and the Gulf, on over 100 projects for Public Investment Fund, Saudi Vision 2030, NEOM, Red Sea Global, Riyadh Metro, General Authority of Civil Aviation, Royal Saudi Air Force, Shangri-La, Expo 2020 Dubai, Etihad Towers, The Pearl Island, Majid Al Futtaim and countless others. We are dedicated to bringing our clients and partners a relentless spirit of innovation to modernize construction – one of the world’s oldest industries.