Featured Project: Union Station Redevelopment

Toronto’s historical Union Station, which originally opened in 1927, is undergoing a major redevelopment project featuring the addition of a new roof and glass atrium built over the passenger platforms and railway tracks that will allow natural light to flood the platforms and take away the oppressive atmosphere created by existing dark roof. But the size, complexity and the lack of accurate knowledge of the existing conditions would present a challenge to this project’s budget.

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There are many factors that can cause delays on the construction schedule of a project– and budget overruns. From issues with the design, to changes in the owner’s plans, or poor planning and management on the contractor’s side, every project has its own story.

No matter what the scenario, delays almost always lead to additional costs. For example, if the property or project is an income-producing project, delaying the start of revenue stream can have huge consequences. Whether it’s a property owner breaking lease agreements on move-in dates with their tenants or a pharmaceutical facility losing millions of dollars per day in sales from a delay in a construction schedule, it’s vital to have the proper processes in place to avoid extensive costs and potential litigation.

Preventing Delay and Overrun During the Tender Phase

Maintaining your construction timeline and avoiding delays and overruns begins with performing the proper due diligence on your contractors before committing to them. Through our Contractor Recommendation process, we work with the Owners, Designers, and Project Managers to develop the evaluation criteria or scoring model to review both financial and non-financial aspects of the short-listed bids. This includes the contractor’s relevant experience, proposed staff, references, schedule, and safety policies.

This weighted scoring model ensures that each bid is evaluated for its relative strengths and assigned a total score. The bid with the highest score is the determined to offer the best value.

Choosing a contractor based on best value, not just cheapest tender, will help to ensure the right person is doing the job for the right price.

Avoiding Delays and Overruns When It’s Time for Construction

Any project changes determined after the contract has been signed involves determining which party will bear the cost impact of this change. It’s vital to approach these issues in a fair and reasonable way.

At A.W. Hooker, we can initiate a Change Order Review to equip both the owner and contractor with a clear, credible method to resolve how changes are handled. Since Quantity Surveyors have expertise in contracts and construction costs, we are in the best position to provide parties with a fair review of how changes can impact the project costs.

If a contractor submits a claim for greater payment than the original contract called for after work is completed, we can also perform a Claims Review. This involves a Quantity Surveyor evaluating the details of the claim and providing an unbiased recommendation concerning the cost.

Unresolved claims can result in construction liens so it is important to address these claims before they become bigger issues.

Minimizing Litigation Risk

While we expect a well-executed contract to account for every scenario in a concrete way, this is not always realistic. Scenarios can develop that are open to interpretation. Two parties can interpret a piece of technical or contractual documentation differently.

At A.W. Hooker, we can help anticipate and avoid any unresolved issues that could turn into claims. Our Quantity Surveyors can help to ensure that clear, credible, and consistent communication is part of the process, thereby minimizing the risk of claims.

Managing project issues, particularly those that impact cost or schedule, in a fair and open fashion will help prevent most claims. But, when a claim does appear, our Quantity Surveyors can address the issues quickly, fairly, and with vigour, including providing Expert Witness services in the event that litigation proceeds.