Construction Projects Archives

Scheduling experts have a variety of methods available to them for analyzing delays, but all methods are not equally reliable or persuasive, a point well illustrated by the April, 2017 decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims in K-Con Building Systems, Inc. v. United States, 131 Fed.Cl. 275 (2017).  That decision provides a detailed analysis of the competing opinions of the parties’ scheduling experts, and the court found that the scheduling analysis method employed by the defendant was more persuasive.  The court stated: “The parties present diametrically opposed descriptions of the critical path of performance—plaintiff submits that the critical path of performance should be based on an as-planned, forward-looking schedule, and defendant contends that the critical path of performance should be based on an as-built, backward-looking schedule. The court agrees with defendant that the proper way to determine what activities were on the critical path of performance in this case is to examine what actually occurred during contract performance. There are two reasons for this conclusion. First, a critical path schedule that relies solely on the schedule set forth in the contract specifications does not account for any subsequent changes to the schedule authorized by the contracting agency…. Second, the use of a contractually based critical path schedule does not reflect that plaintiff did not actually perform in accordance with the schedule set forth in the contract specifications.”

byMelissa Romero via philly.curbed.com Last year, Philly experienced a building boom, with more than 1,200 building permits issued for new construction. That’s a 20 percent increase from 2015, and there are no signs of this trend slowing down in 2017, according to a new analysis. FixList, a Philly-based online company that provides real estate data for investment opportunities throughout the city, recently compiled a treasure trove of information about new building and zoning permits issued in Philly from 2011 to 2015. The report’s findings reveal which neighborhoods are slowing down or experiencing a construction boom, as well as what kind of projects are being built. A couple of key details from their findings: 91 permits were issued for towers in the last 5 years No surprise here: A lot of high-rises are under construction in Philly (at least 25 by our last count). FixList found that of the 91 permits that were issued for mixed-use towers (zoned CMX4 and CMX5), 31 are still in play. In fact, five more permits have already been issued in the new year. Construction is slowing in Northern Liberties, rising in Strawberry Mansion It’s no surprise that building permits for new construction is on the rise in popular neighborhoods like Fishtown and Kensington. But there are some other neighborhoods where the building boom may not seem so apparent. For example, there were 37 building permits for new construction issued in Strawberry Mansion in 2016—that’s a huge increase given the fact that in 2011 just one […]

On January 4, 2017, the Associated Builders and Contractors, Associated General Contractors of America, National Association of Home Builders, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and eight other construction industry groups sent a letter to president-elect Donald Trump asking that he rescind President Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to require project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale projects. In the letter, the coalition of construction industry groups advocate that PLAs raise the cost of public projects by 12%-18% resulting in “fewer infrastructure improvements and reduced construction industry job creation.” The coalition further state that a PLA “stifles competition and prevents taxpayers from receiving the best possible construction product at the best possible price.” In the letter, the coalition insinuate that rescinding the mandate will increase infrastructure improvements and job creation. The building trades union have advocated the use of PLAs on public projects, so it remains to be seen whether they would reach out to president-elect Donald Trump prior to his inauguration asking that he save Executive Order 13502.

A subsidiary of Skanska avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing to pay a $19.6 million settlement over allegations that Skanska improperly took advantage of government set-aside programs. In conjunction with that settlement, it entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. At the time of the settlement, Skanska was the low bidder on a large subway construction project and risked not having the contract awarded to it by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.