Program Advisory Services
Barba Consulting provides services throughout the Planning, Execution, and Close-out phases of the construction process
Planning Phase Services
Every owner wants to avoid problems that can lead to time and cost overruns in construction, and the claims which inevitably follow. But with budgets and staffing often stretched to the limit, most owners simply lack the resources and specialized experience required to make claims mitigation an integral part of every construction program. That's where Barba Consulting comes in.
Using the foresight developed through our extensive experience in project management, claims and disputes resolution, we can help you establish a claims mitigation program that will enable you to avoid many problems and claims completely, and resolve those that do arise in a more timely, cost-effective manner.
Barba Consulting's planning phase services target four areas critical to successful project completion:
Contracts: The rules of the game
Contracts establish the rules for your construction team to follow, and form the management and administrative foundation upon which your project will be delivered.
Working closely with our clients and their counsel we help develop contracts - with the Architect/Engineer, the Contractor, or the CM - that clearly allocate risk in accordance with the clients' intent (be it risk-assumption, risk-sharing, or risk-shifting); explicitly detail your schedule, cost control, and change order management requirements; and delineate the duties of the parties in implementing those requirements. Barba Consulting's contract specialists help you accomplish this by either enhancing your existing contracts or preparing new ones. In either case, you can be assured that, through working closely with you and your counsel, we will make your expectations clear.
Project Procedures: Taking the guesswork out of contract compliance
In order to ensure that contract requirements are carried out, we prepare project-specific Procedures Manuals that serve as a daily performance roadmap for project personnel. These manuals clearly define organizational relationships and responsibilities; detail the steps to be taken in implementing contract requirements; and provide sample letters and forms for use in administering the contract.
Training: Empowering your project management team
To ensure that project personnel fully understand and consistently implement contract requirements and procedures, we provide custom-tailored in-house training programs.
These programs typically include general instruction in project management, Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling, theories of compensability, and time impact analysis, coupled with project-specific training that focuses on a particular projects' requirements, the duties of each staff member, and methods of avoiding potential problems. The sessions are designed to educate, motivate, and empower the members of your project management team.
Contract Bid Documents: Avoiding foreseeable claims and disputes
Errors, omissions, inconsistencies, and ambiguities are a major source of claims and disputes. That's why effective claims mitigation depends on eliminating as many problems as possible in your contract documents before putting them out for bid.
Through a comprehensive Claims Mitigation Review of your bid documents, Barba Consulting helps ensure that they are clear, complete and well organized. Our Review includes a detailed examination and cross-checking of front-end requirements and conditions of contract, as well as a comprehensive review of contract plans and technical specifications to eliminate conflicts and ambiguities.
Our professionals know where to look for problems and how to correct them. By eliminating problems at their source, prior to construction, you won't have to pay for them during construction.