pioneershredder
New member
Hi all,
I am very new to civil work and negotiating.
I am doing school research.
Faced with this problem. From what I found in Div 1. The contracting agency does not make any guarantees for the soils report and the contractor assumes the risk and has the opportunity to do their own investigation. Is there anything else I should be looking at?
Here is the scenario:
You been placed in charge of a sewer main project that incorporates the WSDOT standard specifications by reference. You have been given the authority to act as the ”Engineer”. You are eager to show your ability to inspect and manage a capital improvement project. You get a call from the project manager for the construction company. He informs you that that there is a serious problem at the job site. When installing the sewer main the utility crew encountered significant groundwater intrusion into the trench. He informs you that in reviewing the project manual there is nothing to indicate the presence of groundwater. (The Soil Report did not include a section on “ground water”. The Contractor claims this constitutes a “changed condition”. These large amounts of groundwater are significantly impacting the cost of installing the sewer main. The good news is that he has come up with a solution that can be implemented at minimal cost to the owner.
Pursuant to section 1 -- 04.7 of the standard specifications he is officially notifying you of the “changed condition” and would like to meet with you to negotiate a change order to solve the problem. Due to the extreme severity of the problem, his pipe crews have had to stop working until a solution can be agreed on. He points out to you that the owner is responsible for any costs incurred by the contractor for both labor and equipment until a solution can be reached and implemented.
You have been cautioned by your supervisor that in the event a contractor has to stop work and the stoppage is the responsibility of the owner that the owner is required to compensate the contractor for these labor and equipment downtime costs.
You also know that changed conditions do occur on projects and that the owner is responsible for paying for any resulting additional work.
When negotiating the change order, your duty is to ensure that you only pay for additional costs not already included in the contract, the scope of work (method and materials) is the most cost effective one (it is the least expensive option that will definitely fix the problem), that any time extension to the contract is justified, and that the amount negotiated is fair and reasonable.
One option you know you do not want to consider is paying for any additional work on force account (ie time and materials). Force account requires constant monitoring of the contractor and it is usually the most expensive option to pay for work. Agreeing to have the work performed on force account is essentially writing the contractor a blank check. Most contractors want to work on force account because it allows them to assign their least productive crew. They then inflate the time, material, and equipment required to perform the work to insure the highest profit
You meet the contractor at the job site. You believe he has exaggerated the problem, but must agree that the groundwater problem is impacting the work and clearly something is going have to be done.
Details that may help you:
Total LF of SS in the contract is 2000 LF
Total sewer installed to date 200 LF
Total days in the contract 60 working days
Days used to date 15
The workforce includes men and equipment at a cost of $40 per hour for each man, $250 per hour for the track-hoe, and $65 per hour for the other equipment for a total cost of $5000 for each day.
The water in the trench is a result of subsurface water.
The total cost of the contract is $350,000.
You are both authorized to negotiate a change order
All notification requirements of Division I have been complied with.
For negotiation purposes, please plan for a total of 10 days of de-watering and completion of the sewer installation.
In addition to the above issue, you will need to document in a change order an agreement you previously reached for the addition of a new bid item in the contract: 100ft of 12” N-12 pipe at a unit price of $40/LF (total amount for this item would be $4,000). It was agreed this storm pipe work would not impact the Critical Path (no additional days to the contract for this pipe work).
I am very new to civil work and negotiating.
I am doing school research.
Faced with this problem. From what I found in Div 1. The contracting agency does not make any guarantees for the soils report and the contractor assumes the risk and has the opportunity to do their own investigation. Is there anything else I should be looking at?
Here is the scenario:
You been placed in charge of a sewer main project that incorporates the WSDOT standard specifications by reference. You have been given the authority to act as the ”Engineer”. You are eager to show your ability to inspect and manage a capital improvement project. You get a call from the project manager for the construction company. He informs you that that there is a serious problem at the job site. When installing the sewer main the utility crew encountered significant groundwater intrusion into the trench. He informs you that in reviewing the project manual there is nothing to indicate the presence of groundwater. (The Soil Report did not include a section on “ground water”. The Contractor claims this constitutes a “changed condition”. These large amounts of groundwater are significantly impacting the cost of installing the sewer main. The good news is that he has come up with a solution that can be implemented at minimal cost to the owner.
Pursuant to section 1 -- 04.7 of the standard specifications he is officially notifying you of the “changed condition” and would like to meet with you to negotiate a change order to solve the problem. Due to the extreme severity of the problem, his pipe crews have had to stop working until a solution can be agreed on. He points out to you that the owner is responsible for any costs incurred by the contractor for both labor and equipment until a solution can be reached and implemented.
You have been cautioned by your supervisor that in the event a contractor has to stop work and the stoppage is the responsibility of the owner that the owner is required to compensate the contractor for these labor and equipment downtime costs.
You also know that changed conditions do occur on projects and that the owner is responsible for paying for any resulting additional work.
When negotiating the change order, your duty is to ensure that you only pay for additional costs not already included in the contract, the scope of work (method and materials) is the most cost effective one (it is the least expensive option that will definitely fix the problem), that any time extension to the contract is justified, and that the amount negotiated is fair and reasonable.
One option you know you do not want to consider is paying for any additional work on force account (ie time and materials). Force account requires constant monitoring of the contractor and it is usually the most expensive option to pay for work. Agreeing to have the work performed on force account is essentially writing the contractor a blank check. Most contractors want to work on force account because it allows them to assign their least productive crew. They then inflate the time, material, and equipment required to perform the work to insure the highest profit
You meet the contractor at the job site. You believe he has exaggerated the problem, but must agree that the groundwater problem is impacting the work and clearly something is going have to be done.
Details that may help you:
Total LF of SS in the contract is 2000 LF
Total sewer installed to date 200 LF
Total days in the contract 60 working days
Days used to date 15
The workforce includes men and equipment at a cost of $40 per hour for each man, $250 per hour for the track-hoe, and $65 per hour for the other equipment for a total cost of $5000 for each day.
The water in the trench is a result of subsurface water.
The total cost of the contract is $350,000.
You are both authorized to negotiate a change order
All notification requirements of Division I have been complied with.
For negotiation purposes, please plan for a total of 10 days of de-watering and completion of the sewer installation.
In addition to the above issue, you will need to document in a change order an agreement you previously reached for the addition of a new bid item in the contract: 100ft of 12” N-12 pipe at a unit price of $40/LF (total amount for this item would be $4,000). It was agreed this storm pipe work would not impact the Critical Path (no additional days to the contract for this pipe work).
