Construction (Auditing)

Key to Success: Get Control Up-Front

General consensus in the construction industry - quality of Contract Documents continues to decline and too little attention is given to design choices and value engineering, all of which leading to avoidable construction costs.

The first step in controlling construction costs is to:

Verify that the design is as efficient as possible as to cost, while maintaining an acceptable level of quality, aesthetics, and function, and

Verify that sufficient study is given to comparing costs of alternative choices for materials and engineering systems

The second step in controlling construction costs, which also minimizes problems during construction, is to review for completeness and coordination among the components of the Contract Documents, which includes:

Contract

General Conditions

Supplementary Conditions

Drawings

Specifications

Addenda

Modifications

Benefits to owners, financial institutions, contractors and design professionals of a thorough and well-coordinated set of Contract Documents are numerous, including:

Reducing problems during construction - delays, avoidable cost change orders, disputes, legal fees, etc.

Helps keep projects within budget

Less problems with completed project - material failures, technical problems, etc.

Sources of disputes and problems:

Nebulous, missing or incorrect terms and information in the contract or drawings!

Need some guidance/advice on these methods of controlling costs? Audit Services suggests contacting Tim Burrow at Burrow & Cravens, PC (615 252 2502 or via email: burrowtim@bellsouth.net). Some information about Tim Burrow:

Tim ... as a lawyer, architect and contractor is able to identify problems that are often missed by professionals with single disciplines

30 years in the business, including 15 years as a lawyer or arbitrator in arbitrations and in the courtroom, and an Architectural Quality Control Coordinator for one of the largest architectural/engineering firms in the southeast

Listed as an "elite" expert with the largest expert witness search firms in the country. Only 3% of their 20,000 experts are designated as "elite" ... and only 3 architects have this status

Additional construction auditing considerations:

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Interested in expanding scope of work for construction audits going forward? (Click here for more information)