Written by LetsBuild
Last updated September 19, 2023
Construction is a complicated old business and contractual disagreements can be a major headache, particularly at the end of the project when all bills will hopefully be settled. Historically there are often serious argumentsthat need to be resolved. These usually involve Delay and the threat of LAD charges, which can be horrendous, they can often result in the need for a Forensic Delay Analysis (FDA) to show who is responsible for what. Assuming all the paperwork for the project is correctly filed away and easily traced, the cost of that FDA by a specialist will probably be at least £20,000. Faced with that kind of bill when they already have cash-flow problems, many contractors just roll over and go bust!Well, we don’t want any of that so we are going to move into today’s perfect world where everything to refute any possible future claim is instantly available. To do that requires that we use GenieBelt Construction Software.
What that does is give everyone involved in the project instant access to all information and the ability to make sure all relevant information is on there. This starts with the Build Program. Using GenieBelt this is instantly up-dated once a Task has had some work done on it. Not only that but that Task also has Comments added to it such as “Wind conditions stopped working at height for 2 days”. Everyone knows and that means there is no point in trying to place the blame if the project ends those 2 days late! “God” is pretty well immune to any claims against him for his “Acts”! Contractual pun there, folks!
Getting to be more sensible about this, though, every Task has attached to it any evidential photos taken by anyone. If those photos show defective workmanship then the blame is off you, the main contractor and on the shoulders of the subby that did it. Then you are protected even more! The subby doesn’t want to cop it, so he makes sure that everything is right first time! He has to protect himself, after all. Clever stuff, this GenieBelt!
These photos of Tasks become even more important if there is a design change. They will clearly show the point to which work had progressed in accordance with the earlier specification. That work will have to be removed and more photos will show the progress of that action. Then even more photos will show the progress of the re-work. The other requirement for this protection is that the date the design change was received is also showing up there on GenieBelt. That leaves you well protected! When your claim for additional works goes in nobody can argue and you get paid for it! Protected again!
There it pretty well is. By using GenieBelt every Task on the Build Program has all Progress Reports, Comments, Documentation and Evidential Photos recorded against it. That gives a very easy-to-follow audit trail which will protect you against any spurious Claims for Delay. It also gives a very clear audit trail to justify payment for additional work incurred by having to comply with late design changes.
Go GenieBelt, go!!!
