When it comes to construction disputes, even one of these types of issues can turn a profitable job into a major loss. Even worse is the fact that multiple construction disputes can result in a contractor being put out of business.
Here are five of the most useful tips to consider making note of in order to help with avoiding construction disputes.
*First and foremost, perhaps one of the most useful tips to help avoid construction disputes is to ensure that you have an accurate schedule. Oftentimes, it can be difficult to properly assess the overall impact of delay claims or change orders without having an accurate baseline schedule that has been accepted by all parties at the project start. Furthermore, having a more solid schedule can also serve as a tool for helping to identify any and all delays early, as well as taking the necessary steps to either decrease or prevent them before any possible disputes arise.
*Another useful tip to help avoid construction disputes is to take the time to train project managers. When the owner of a construction company finally learns about a dispute, it can end up being far too late to prevent any and all consequences. Thankfully, project managers will be in the best possible position to seek out possible difficulties whenever they arise, and you should take the time to train yours to be able to identify any and all major issues, as well as quickly act to resolve them.
*One other tip to help avoid construction disputes is to always carefully draft contracts. Perhaps the most common cause of many legal issues for contractors involves ambiguous contract language, which means that you should always pay close attention to the provisions that could affect your overall right to compensation, as well as extensions of time in the potential event of owner-caused changes or delays, such as change order provisions, differing site condition provisions, no damages for delay clauses, and more.
*Another important tip to help avoid construction disputes is to always stay up to speed involving all applicable regulations and laws, especially those that affect your specific types of projects. For instance, if you work on specific types of public jobs, there are some state or federal rules that could require specific mandatory contract clauses. Furthermore, courts could end up interpreting the contract as containing these types of clauses, even if the clauses themselves are actually omitted, meaning that failing to comply with these rules could result in either disputes or litigation.
*One other useful tip to help with avoiding construction disputes is to monitor all jobs as closely as possible. Regardless of how well your contracts may be drafted, there are still many disputes that can still arise in the event that your project managers and crews end up not following all procedures that are mandated in the contracts themselves. For instance, you should always ensure that they fully understand the change order approval process and that the process itself is followed.