Rendering courtesy of SSE Alleged defects in turbine foundations as well as the impacts of the cost and schedule of repair work are the focus of competing claims by the owner and contractor Fluor Corp. on the Greater Gabbard wind project. EC Harris, which produced the disputes report, has no connection to the project. Related Links: EC Harris homepage Global Construction Disputes Report Ill Winds Blow Through Huge U.K. Wind Farm Project A new study suggests that the global construction industry is seeing longer disputes that involve smaller monetary stakes than in 2010, and that an improving business climate in
If you’re blaming all the contractor and subcontractor defaults lately on the recession and how thin times lead to management mistakes, such as chasing unprofitable work, here’s yet another concern. Business in some sectors is picking up enough or may pick up soon and could create perils from recovery risk.Contractors face recovery risk on the back end of a recession when they take on too much work after they’ve depleted their staff and cash resources during hard times and don’t have enough resources to finish projects. It’s a little bit like a starving man suddenly finding too much food and
Courtesy of the University of California at Santa Barbara Ocean Sciences building is running late, says the University of California at Santa Barbara. Related Links: Melchiori Terminated from University of California, Santa Barbara, Project as General Contractor The University of California at Santa Barbara last month terminated Melchiori Construction Co., a firm that says it was the area's biggest general contractor and construction manager, from a $6.5-million building project.Because the project, started in March 2010, remains unfinished and "the contractor is many months behind schedule," the university state that it has also "made demand" of Western Surety Co., a Woodland
istockphoto Can combined general contractor-subcontractor default insurance fill a need? Related Links: XL Website XL Announces CapAssure XL Insurance is seeking its first customer for a new product, introduced in March, that combines contractor and subcontractor default insurance for private construction projects.Called CapAssure, the subcontractor default insurance part will work the same way as Subguard, the product launched 16 years ago by insurer Zurich North America that currently has virtually all of the subcontractor default insurance market.Subguard is used to cover about $35 billion worth of subcontracting work each year, according to Nils Sorenson, Zurich's Subguard product manager.CapAssure, in contrast,
Newnan Convention Centre Authority Photo from the website of the Newnan Convention Center, which is under construction. Related Links: Takeover Agreement Between Ohio Casualty and Alabama Schools Newnan Centre subcontractors getting paid through bonding firms account A mid-size building prime contractor in Georgia and Alabama has defaulted and requested help from its surety.Columbus, Ga.-based D. Dean & Associates Inc. also had an office in Birmingham. Founder and President Danny Dean could not be reached for comment, but his company has apparently run into financial problems.According to a version of a takeover agreement with the Alabama Public School Authority, the Shelby
Related Links: Anniston, Ala. Star: Work on Parkway Still Stalled After being removed from an Alabama state parkway section that was more than 80% complete, the contractor says the root of the problem was design errors that couldn’t be resolved with the state department of transportation. “The state’s description was we were behind schedule. We differ on why we were behind schedule,” says Dan Cordell, general manager of Hernando, Miss.-based L&T Construction. "When all things are considered—we presented the state with some scheduling changes we wanted them to consider—we were ahead of schedule.” The Alabama Dept. of Transportation removed L&T on
Office of Councillor Steve Desroches The Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge in Ottawa is designed with three arched trusses. Related Links: Receivership Legal Documents on the Grant Thornton website Project photo on website of Councillor Steve Desroches, Gloucester-South Nepean When a Canadian bank pushed Concreate USL Ltd. into receivership March 16, dozens of projects in eastern Canada and the U.S. stopped dead or slowed down, leaving cities and subcontractors in limbo.The biggest is the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge in Ottawa, for which Concreate USL Ltd., is the prime contractor. The receivership also applied to a related company, Triwest Construction, whose parent, Triwest Capital Partners, had
Trained as an accountant, Ed Littleton started his career with Arthur Andersen & Co. After a stint at an industrial contractor, he joined the big brokerage Willis, where he held various positions. Later, he became vice president of risk management for Skanska and then construction practice leader for Wachovia Insurance Services, Atlanta. With Balfour Beatty, where he has worked since 2006, Littleton is based in Dallas. We talked with him about his career, the trust between a client and a broker, and how Balfour Beatty manages its risks.What is your background, and how did you begin working as a risk
Related Links: Arena Subcontractor's 'Untimely' Default Delays Enclosure Are capital-intensive subcontractors with substantial fabricating operations the most likely not to make it through to the end of the construction recession?That’s a question prime contractors could ask in light of the latest major subcontractor default.Austin Industries, the big commercial and industrial contactor, says of its four projects on which Trainor Glass Co. was serving as a subcontractor, three were nearly completed and are running on schedule and the fourth is in a very early stage and is unlikely to be affected.Based in Farmers Branch, Texas, Trainor Glass shut its doors at
The global economic slowdown, coupled with rising public debt in the eurozone, has wreaked havoc with construction markets across Europe.Construction companies across the European Union are paying the price with dwindling order books and bankruptcies. In weaker countries, such as Greece, the market has collapsed, having boomed unrealistically for some years. The middle-ranking countries are building at steady levels.Towering over all of them, however, is Germany, Europe's largest construction market. Having avoided the worst excesses of the credit boom while maintaining its manufacturing sector, the country is enjoying a construction bonanza."At the moment, Germans are very optimistic about the future,"
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