Andy Hewitt - Construction Claims and Responses: Effective Writing and Presentation

1. Chapter 02

This book is dedicated to Kim, Nik and Nina.

Second Edition

Andy Hewitt

Hewitt Construction Consultancy Claims Class

This edition first published 2016
2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Wiley-Blackwell is an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, formed by the merger of Wileys global Scientific, Technical and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing.

First edition published 2011
Second edition published 2016

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ISBN: 9781119151852

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Cover image: SilviaJansen/iStockphoto

Andy Hewitt is a construction contracts and claims consultant who has over 40 years experience in the construction industry in the UK, Africa and in the Middle East. In addition to many projects in the UK, he has worked on projects in Nigeria, Sudan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates.

Andy has held senior commercial and project-management positions with contractors, subcontractors and consultants, including several years operating his own consultancy practice in the UK, which provided quantity surveying, estimating and project-management services. He has been involved in a wide variety of construction projects including super high-rise, airports, hospitals, residential, hotels, shopping malls, industrial buildings, heavy civil engineering, marine works, process plants, pipelines, desalination plants and royal palaces.

One of the most enjoyable periods of Andys career was when he was employed as a claims and contracts consultant by J.R. Knowles, one of the most prestigious international consultants in this field. During this period he discovered that his background on both the contractors and the clients side of the fence in commercial, contracts and project-management positions gave him the ability to look at the issues objectively and to manage and to resolve the often adversarial nature of claims in a proactive manner to achieve resolutions acceptable to the parties. During this period he was involved in several iconic projects in the United Arab Emirates including the world-famous Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

During the past decade, Andy has been employed in positions as project director, contracts manager and commercial manager on many prestigious projects in the Middle East. In these roles he has had the responsibility of both preparing and determining many claims. The often poor quality of the claims and determinations that have come across his desk during this time, many of which have exhibited a lack of understanding of many basic concepts and requirements of the subject, inspired him to share his experience on the subject with the industry by way of this publication.

Currently, Andy is the principal of Hewitt Consultancy services, a small, specialist practice offering claims, contracts, dispute management and adjudication services to contractors and employers.

Following feedback from the first edition of this book and after several invitations from companies to provide training on claims related issues, Andy realised that there was a significant gap in the market for education and training on the subject. This led him to develop a tutor-assisted distance learning course on construction claims and several two-day intensive training courses on subjects relating to claims. These courses are marketed internationally under the banner of Claim Class.

Andy now splits his time between Europe and the Middle East and is involved in consultancy work as well as providing education and training in many countries.

Hewitt Construction Consultancy provides two distinct services to clients: consultancy work, which is principally provided by Andy Hewitt, and education and training which is provided under the Claims Class banner.

Consultancy services include the following:

• Claim preparation
• Claim review and defence
• Claim enhancement and presentation
• Contractual advice
• Contract administration set up and advice
• Dispute adjudication
• Dispute management
• Arbitration support
• Dispute board membership
• Education and training

Email:

www: www.hewittconstructionconsultancy.com

I was pleased to be asked by Andy Hewitt, a former colleague, to write the Foreword to his book.

The first thing that strikes one, having read the first few pages, is the easy style Andy has adopted, which made my task a pleasure. It is also obvious from the outset that the author has had a great deal of hands-on experience of preparing and responding to claims, and this oozes from the pages.

First and foremost this book is international in its outlook and will be useful for those involved in claims on a worldwide basis. In the early part of the book, Andy recounts his need when preparing his first claim for a Claims for Dummies type of book which he couldnt find. This is not a book for dummies, but is essential reading for anyone who is preparing a claim for the first time. For those of us with experience aplenty, the book provides an excellent aide memoire and will ensure that nothing is missed.