Contract Claims and Dispute

Contract Claims and Dispute

In the case in which during the final commissioning process of a building there are a few minor defects noticed in the HVAC system during testing, there is a considerable amount of responsibility for the project manager. Specifically, he or she must record the results of the testing to provide as much detail as possible regarding the failure of the HVAC system. Additionally, he or she must also utilize these results to communicate the findings of the test to the client to which the building will be awarded. Thus, in communicating these findings to the client, the project manager must be extremely forthright about the exact nature of the failures -- where they are, why they occurred and, perhaps most eminently, what future processes can occur to correct them since defects in certain parts of a building can produce a negative impact on other parts of it (Kubba, 2010, p. 415). It is essential that the test results are communicated to the client to provide a micro perspective of the issues, while it is also valuable for the project manager to convey those results at a higher level (the macro level) to ensure that the client understands the nature of the deficiencies.

In terms of handling the specific defects, the project manager is charged with the specific task of identifying the language in the contract which obligates the contractor to provide services for the building free from defect. It is pivotal to note that the contractor, although he or she may have subcontracted the portion of the building's construction that pertains to the HVAC system, is still the one who is responsible for the deficiencies as well as for correcting them. There are a number of points in the wording of the contractor, then, that the project manager must identify in order to get the deficiencies properly handled. These include "contract intent" (Whitticks, 2005, p. 222), in which if there is no specific wording for the HVAC system in the building, there more than likely is wording to support the fact that the building will be fully functional and free from defects.

The project manager also has a couple of different options for interacting with the contractor regarding the defects in the aforementioned situation. First of all, the project manager should not hand over the building to the client because there are defects in it which the contractor is legally obligated to properly build. Essentially, it is up to the project manager to tell the contractor to continue working on the building until it is free from defects and in a shape that is commensurate with the description provided within the contract. The specific terms of the contract, then, are very important and require intense scrutiny, for the simple fact that if the contract does not require the building to be free from defects or to be completed -- as was the case in "The Great Asphalt Robbery" in which the contractor merely leased its equipment and personnel to the client and was not contractually obligated to complete anything to specification (Whitticks, 2005, p. 239). However, if there is a complete description of the finished product on a scheduled time frame (as is the case in most thoroughly drafted and reviewed contracts), then the project manager should specify that the contractor either correct the defects, be in breach of contract, or deduct an accordant amount of pay from the contractor.