The Civil Engineering Contractor April 2019 | Page 29

INSIGHT
Foundations do fail
… and so do claims
By Stefan Müller
Structural failures such as Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, or the mining dam in the state
of Minas Gerais, Brazil, or even more recently, the walkway collapse at the Driehoek High
School in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, result in intensive and extensive investigations, with
different opinions for the resulting failures.
T
hese investigations into the
various failures show that
small events that have been
overlooked, or even small changes
that have been made, could have
caused the failures, much the
same as is experienced in contract
administration. The investigations are
without any doubt necessary, as they
contribute to improving the safety
of not only future build structures,
but also lead to existing structures
being inspected for similar potential
failures.
Foundations or support structures
that fail over time can in general
be attributable to some variance in
material acting or reacting differently
to local conditions, or being exposed
to unexpected extreme external
factors — here the New York Twin
Towers collapse comes to mind.
These failures will result in a
difference of opinion between the
various affected parties. Much the
same is experienced in the evaluation
of construction and infrastructure
claims. Hindsight, as they say, is an
exact science! There are similarities
that can be drawn between the general
experiences gathered from some of
the failures and the successes and/or
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failures in the successful realisation of
claim entitlements.
Gather detail according
to contract
Contract administration entails not
only the careful and accurate gathering
of information and details related
to compensable events, but also a
requirement to accurately follow the
word of the contract conditions. This
must be strictly adhered to in order to
receive any just entitlements. Failure
to do so will result in either a partial
or even a full collapse in arguments
and entitlements with any submitted
claims for either time and financial
compensation.
The contract administrator plays a
pivotal role in achieving entitlements
for events where provision has been
made for in the contract conditions
and even in certain instances
where the contract is silent for a
specific event, but the procedures
to be followed will determine any
entitlement.
Develop and train
Employers, be it the client or
contractor, will employ contract
administrators based on their
experiences and qualifications.
Contract administrators are the
first line of defence and if it is
done accurately, will not require the
second line of defence, being the
involvement of the legal fraternity.
In some instances, however,
this is unavoidable and does add
considerable expense to the claims
and may not necessarily result in a
positive conclusion.
Therefore, it makes more sense
to employ experienced contract
administrators and to introduce
a mentorship programme in
order to develop and train the
younger inexperienced contract
administrators. It is also important
for any development programme
to include experienced contract
administrators. The developments in
the changes of contract conditions
in the various contract forms, FIDIC
2017, NEC 2013, JBCC 2014, and
GCC 2015, are all still developing
case studies, papers, and workshops.
The information gathered via the
various channels can only have a direct
and positive impact on the way any
potential claims are considered and
naturally in the preparation thereof,
to the latest industry standards and
methods.
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