Construction Risk Management

Project Management

We take a tailored approach to our clients. This is why we believe that the key to successful project delivery is to establish trust in our working relationships – opening up clear lines of communication from the outset. Through effective project management, we organize and deliver construction projects to cost and on program.

Our Project Management services can be categorized as Owner's Project Manager or Owner's Representative, which are interchangeable in terms of our services. As the Owner's Project Manager or Owner's Representative, we serve only our client's interests and advise on pre-construction, construction, and post-construction related aspects of a project. We apply a continuous and collaborative process throughout all phases of a project to achieve maximum benefit for our clients related to value-for-money, quality, and function.

Generally, studies have shown that hiring an Owner's Project Manager / Owner's Representative for your project will result in:

• 100% quality expectations achieved
• 7-12% overall cost savings
• 4-8% shorter overall schedules

Over the last three decades, Cordjia has developed a systematic approach to managing the overall design and construction process through the following phases of a project:

Pre-Design Phase

• Project Definition and Scope Determination
• Cost Analysis and Budget Preparation
• Design Team Selection
• Fiscal Risk Management

Design Phase

• Design Team Coordination
• Project Delivery Recommendation
• Design Document and Quality Review
• Value Engineering Recommendations
• Cost Control
• Schedule Development
• Fiscal Risk Minimization Strategies

Bidding and Award Phase

• Bidder Pre-Qualification Coordination
• Bid Reconciliation and Recommendation
• Contract Review and Coordination

Construction Phase

• Onsite Construction Administration
• Project Meeting Management
• Progress Payment Evaluation
• Workflow Management – RFIs, Submittals, Change Orders, etc.
• Critical Communication Management
• Critical Issue Resolution
• Quality Review
• Change Order Control
• Schedule Monitoring
• Utility Services Coordination
• Material Testing Agency and Special Inspections Coordination
• Claims Evaluation
• Work Out Strategies
• Substantial and Final Completion Coordination

Post-Construction Phase

• Operation and Maintenance Documentation Compilation
• Financial Close-Out Coordination
• Warranty Support

Plan and Cost Evaluations

Funding construction, renovation, and infrastructure projects may expose financial institutions and real estate investors to significant financial risk. In order to mitigate this exposure and give peace of mind to the lenders and investors that there are sufficient loan funds to complete the project, we provide pre-construction plan and cost evaluations.

Before construction begins, our plan and cost reviews include an evaluation of the following:

Owner Information

• Project Team Structure and Relationships
• Owner's Total Project Budget (including hard and soft costs)
• Entitlements (Permits)
• Owner's Insurance (Builders Risk, General Liability)
• Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment
• Geotechnical Report

Contractor Information

• Owner-Contractor Agreement with Exhibits
• Contractor Schedule of Values
• Construction Schedule
• Contractor Insurance Certificate
• Special Inspections
• Contractor Performance and Payment Bond
• Payment Applications to Date (if any)

Consultant Information

• Construction Documents (Plans and Specifications)
• Professional Consultant Contracts
• Professional Consultant Insurance Certificates

We ensure the construction documents are complete, detailed, and constructible to ensure that they represent practical conditions, and that they are unlikely to create unnecessary change orders and rework. We review line item cost breakdowns of the Developer's budget and Contractor's construction budget to include allowances for contingencies to ensure costs are aligned with current market pricing for both labor and materials, our extensive cost database, and for the specific conditions of the individual project. We also review the construction contract to ensure it adequately protects the lenders and investors, as the Developer is making commitments to the Contractor that are not always in the lender's and investors' best interest, such as: whether the Contractor is providing the appropriate levels of bonding and insurance, change order cost thresholds, what the payment terms are, whether there are liquidated damages clauses, and whether there are off-site storage clauses that don't align with the lender's and investors' policies. Finally, we will furnish the lenders or investors with a comprehensive report on our findings and recommendations.

Construction Loan Monitoring

During the construction phase, our construction loan monitoring consists of evaluating:

• Payment application disbursements to include current or potential change orders in order to evaluate sufficiency of remaining funds, work-in-place
• Stored material onsite
• Stored material offsite (as necessary)
• Schedule updates
• Conformance with and any modifications to the construction documents
• Lien waivers
• Current or potential quality control issues
• Contractor buyout log
• Material testing and special inspection reports
• Other projects risks, as necessary

We will furnish the lenders and investors with a comprehensive report that will provide a clear view of construction status to include our observations, recommendations, and up-to-date photographs of the project. This will assist the lenders or investors with monthly administration and disbursement of construction payment application requests.

Cost Estimating and Consulting

We provide professional cost estimating and consulting services tailored to meet our client's needs. Owners have often faced inaccurate and poorly documented construction cost estimates. We help our clients by establishing realistic and accurate estimates utilizing current market pricing for both labor and materials as well as our extensive cost database for the specific conditions of the individual project.

Distressed Projects Workout Solutions

Whenever the performance of a project falls outside nominal values, it is considered to be a project in distress. Construction processes carry inherent risks at each stage of a project, and you are not always convinced that your critical projects are going to be delivered on plan or achieve the expected results. Waiting too long to act could mean waiting until it's too late to get the project back on track.

By engaging our experts you can have an accurate and unbiased status of your project quickly. We will utilize honed project management methodology and techniques to get the project back on track through the six phases of recovery that include: Understanding, Audit, Tradeoff, Negotiation, Restart, and Execution. The first four phases are used for problem assessment and to evaluate, and hopefully verify, that the project will be able to be saved. The last two phases are where the actual recovery takes place.

Claims and Litigation Support

We believe that the construction claims and litigation process starts with claims avoidance and proactive management. For a dispute to be resolved, our clients require information that is clear, concise, and impartial. We analyze individual dispute situations and provide the objective and technical assessment needed to reach resolution.

We are knowledgeable with handling a variety of claims such as:

• Construction Defects Analysis
• Schedule Delays and Disruptions Analysis
• Change Order Analysis
• Unforeseen and Differing Site Conditions
• Errors and Omissions
• Construction Acceleration
• Wrongful Contract Termination or Suspension