Analysis-Case 3 – Interviewee 1

JK is a 63 year old male civil engineer, who is an Italian national. He has been working for ABC for over 30 years in their projects in Europe and the Middle East. JK holds the designation of project director for project C. His input was very vital for the claim presented by ABC, since he contributed many of the vital facts and incidents to the claim. JK does not hold any certificates in project management but is very well known for his achievements in ABC.

When JK was asked to define a claim in his own words, he said “I see a claim

as a way to intimidate the other party and a way to waive any attempts for penalties”.

The various claims JK has handled throughout the years of work in construction projects were prolongation, acceleration and EOT claims. JK noted that the claims present in project C were EOT and prolongation only. He acknowledged that no acceleration measures were taken to speed up the works since the Employer had not consented to the concept of acceleration measures. JK denied that the claims were used to cover any kind of delays due to the Contractor’s fault. On the contrary, JK says “We did not encounter any concurrency despite what the Engineer or the

Employer says. Hence, all delays are accountable for by the Employer”.

JK asserted that the team he usually relied on in project C was the contract manager and the 3rd party specialist. JK said “Actually we had two consultants to

evaluate the value of claim”. JK elaborated that “sometimes it is better to have a specialist in claims for the submission and presentation of our claim”. According to

his point of view, a successful claims management system should include people with good negotiation skills. They should be people who are also experienced in contractual matters and have good planning skills. JK added, “For the presentation of

a claim, I truly believe that the person who is going to present should have previous experience in handling claims”.

JK admitted to some mistakes he saw serious in the project. He contended that these mistakes included poor site management, with the site team accepting changes free of charge, out of intimidation by the Engineer. JK said “The cost may not be as

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responsible for these delays”. JK further stated that the lessons he learnt from project

C were not to accept the indemnity of design by submitting proposals. He elaborated, “The Engineer has requested us to submit design, stating that it is our obligation to do

so. I must admit that I accepted initially out of good intentions. However, in future I will not accept to have my team designing on behalf of the Engineer because that only covers delays resulting of design errors”.

On claims substantiation, JK stressed on the fact that well written contractual letters during the construction phases were of great importance. He jokingly added “A

letter a day keeps the Engineer away!!!” JK felt that recording facts is compulsory for

the proper substantiation of claims. Once the claim is fully substantiated, he explained, “I along with my contract manager usually do the presentation; sometimes

we seek the assistance of the higher level management in order to attract the care of the Employer to the seriousness of the claim”.

JK discovered that the Engineer was helpless where the claims were concerned. He added, “I don’t blame the Engineer. After all, he overpowered by the Employer.” JK greatly felt that Engineers did not act impartially due to the pressures exercised by the Employer. He expressed his frustration on the way the Engineer had underestimated the claim submitted by ABC, by simply changing facts and denying instructions made directly at site. On FIDIC, JK said that FIDIC had been the form of contract used in all his projects in the Arab world, and that he was comfortable working under a FIDIC contract.

On the records keeping issues in the project, JK did not reveal any discontent with the system they followed. He stated that the documents he needed were simply available in soft copy on the IT server. However, he noted that certain documents were not available due to privacy issues and those were the claim submissions, addendums, etc.

The last area of discussion with JK was the change and change management issues. JK found that changes during construction have more significant impacts, since they take place during the hustle of trying to cope with the tight schedules. He also

Claims Management and Substantiation in the

United Arab Emirates Construction Sector 90 affirmed that cost and change have a proportional relationship, whereas change and time have an inversely proportional relationship. JK attributed the occurrence of change to incomplete design and lack of clarity of the Employer’s objectives. JK emphatically linked claims to changes by saying “Changes are the number one cause

of claims and are at a few times a bonus to us”. He believed that change orders had

helped a lot in adjusting the project’s turnover, especially since the rates in this re- measurable contract were low.

JK concluded on the disputes which had occurred and attributed them to the non- acceptance of the Employer to the contractor’s claim. He said that towards the middle of the project, he could sense isolation and alienation as there were fewer interactions with the Engineer and the Employer. However, he ended the interview by affirming that claims in the past had caused tension and stress amongst all the concerned parties. In the case of project C, the only advantage JK perceived was the additional time granted under EOT to complete the project.

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United Arab Emirates Construction Sector 91