Construction Disputes

Any investigation or litigation matter involving the construction industry requires a team of experts with specialized knowledge of the industry. We work with Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling experts, chartered quantity surveyors, construction cost consultants, project managers and forensic accountants to analyse construction disputes.

Our role in the most common construction disputes is described below.

Contractor Claims

Extra Costs
The most common claims made by contractors are delay, acceleration, loss of productivity and differing conditions claims on lump sum contracts. We work with a CPM scheduling expert to measure the loss in the following areas:

The direct costs incurred such as labour and material;
The additional time related costs such as overtime, equipment rental, site overhead;
The loss of productivity;
Additional head office costs; and,
Additional financing costs.

If the accounting records are incomplete, we may use the "total cost method" or "the modified total cost method" to calculate the damages due to a delay.

Lost Profits
A contractor may also be able to claim the lost profits on contracts he/she would have undertaken if the delay had not occurred. To properly assess the claim, we analyse the contractor's accounting records to determine the profit on contracts before and after the delay.

Owner Claims

We assist owners in determining the consequential damages from delays. For a landlord, these damages may involve the present value of lost rents and for a manufacturer, the damages may be the present value of lost profits.

Construction Audits

A construction project is a significant outlay of capital for a company or institution. We perform detailed reviews of the accounting records including reviewing and testing the controls in place. We believe that construction audits are useful at both the intial stage and at the end of a project.

Our Experience

We have worked with legal counsel and corporations (public and private) on construction disputes in all the areas described above. In addition, we have contributed articles to the Toronto Construction Association and Lawyers Weekly and given presentations to the legal community on the measurement of delay claims.