Legal

Construction Disputes – Settle them Successfully Outside the Courtroom

If you are dealing with a construction dispute, you may be wondering where to turn: perhaps to the courts, to file a lawsuit and to begin a long, drawn-out legal proceeding. Construction disputes are already expensive. When a renovation goes wrong, a new office build sparks a dispute between the owner and builder, a project goes over deadline, unpaid bills pile up, or flaws and problems show up in construction projects after completion, the costs can range from thousands to millions of dollars. Companies like Lyle Charles Consulting can help provide you solutions to settle disputes outside the courtroom.

There is an alternative to going to court and the lengthy, expensive process of a lawsuit: private mediation for construction disputes with an experienced expert. Mediation can allow both parties to achieve a successful outcome without losing more time and money to the court system. Mediation involves individuals in the process as people; it doesn’t leave your dispute to the mercy of an impersonal court system.

An experienced construction consultant who understands technical, business, regulatory, and legal aspects of construction projects can be critical for successful dispute resolution outside the courtroom.

Experts can help to resolve disputes and help a business to bounce back from the fallout of construction problems by providing full-scale construction & turnaround services. These services help a business to succeed after successfully settling a dispute. They work to build a stronger and healthier foundation for the business to move quickly into the future with the construction issues settled, and without legal fees and lengthy courtroom battles looming over its future.

How to Install a Safe in the Home (Where, and general tips)

No matter how secure your home, it’s impossible to prevent unauthorized entry and access altogether, so it’s vital to have a burglary safe so that you can ensure the safety of your most important items. A quality safe offers protection from both criminals and house fires, but you must set up and install them correctly to get the best results.

Buying a Safe

Buying high security safes is not to be taken lightly, and you must ensure any safe you use can protect your property adequately. A reliable safe will cost a little bit more than its standard counterparts, but you can reduce the cost by finding quality used safes. Always ensure you check the fire rating of each safe so that you know how long it will protect your items in the event of a house fire.

Installing Your Safe

Picking a good location for your safe is essential, and the wrong location will increase the odds of losing your valuables. For the best results, find a place that is out of sight but easy for you to access. Burglars have been known to steal safes and try to crack them in a secure location, so you must bolt your safe to the ground so that you can prevent this problem. Some people opt to secure their safe to a wooden floor, but while this will buy you some time, it does not offer dependable protection. When you want a safe to be as secure as possible, you must bold it to a cement foundation.
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Looking for used safes for sale? Try First Security Safe online or in store.

Avoiding Construction Delay Claims

Written by: Lyle Charles

It’s no secret that the construction industry costs money before you can make money, but there should be a limit to the amount of needless spending that a project accumulates. Every time a project planner puts together a change for the plans, or if supplies fail to arrive on time, the owner of the project will end up paying more than what they have anticipated. Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to manage construction claim preparation efficiently or avoid them altogether.

Proper Documentation

One of the common problems crews run into is documentation. For inexperienced crews, documentation can often take a back seat to getting actual work done. Construction consultants have to be excellent record keepers because those documents will come back during a dispute. Documents outline everything, from the project plan to contracts for specific materials. Failure to track your documents is a liability, and will end up costing you in the long run. It may not be this project, but sooner or later you’re going to need to show proof that you have done something or ordered something. Documentation is crucial.

Scheduling in Advance

Another common problem on construction sites is the issue of getting schedules done well enough in advance to predict what might change on the ground. If you work in an area with four seasons, for instance, you might need to plan for days where you’ll be snowed in. There are also excessive overtime requests that could result in “over manpower.” It’s not easy to judge how much manpower you’ll need throughout the project, and you can’t predict which deadlines will present the most stress.

A good project manager needs to balance the deadline for a project, and structure operations so that nothing overlaps or lags. Every day that construction can’t happen is a day that everyone loses money. You should also consider scheduling inspectors, especially for permit issuing, well in advance and plan your changes accordingly. Even seemingly small changes may necessitate a new inspection.

Final Thoughts

Construction claims management is both an art and a science. Every case will present new challenges, but much of the conflict boils down to the same thing. The disputes differ only in detail most times. That’s why good consultants can save crews money and time. They know which documents to keep, how to create a solid filing system, and they can offer advice on scheduling that might not otherwise occur to the project manager.

Be Aware Of Local Building Codes

By Lyle Charles

A lot goes into going from a cleared lot to a finished building. Companies in charge of constructing these structures have no shortage of things they need to worry about. One of the things that must concern them the most, however, are local building codes.

Generally, when an architect plans a building out, they do so within the confines of the local building codes. This means they don’t make it taller than it can legally be. They don’t make it go to deep into the ground. It doesn’t have windows that will pose a serious threat to the birds in the area, etc. There are countless boxes to check.

However, building a structure also means following a number of codes too. Any number of things can go wrong, though, that result in infractions. When that happens, you want a construction claims management expert to take the wheel.

This will be a third party who is experienced in handling these types of infractions. They work hard to ensure that the claim gets resolved ASAP, so you can get on with finishing the building.

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When you need a bit of extra help with your current build, look no further than Lyle Charles for support and insights where it matters. Through his firm, you can get everything from his skills as a construction mediation expert, help with turnaround services, consultations on matters that may be holding you back and much more. Don’t try facing down big challenges on your own, get help from the best.

Common Problems When Building a House

Written by: Lyle Charles

You’ve gathered all of your materials, you’ve spoken with and hired the right crew. What could go wrong? Well, as it turns out, lots of things can go wrong on a construction site. Before you begin work on a new house, try these tips to make all phases of construction go smoothly.

Planning

Lots of issues can creep up in the planning phase of any major construction project. The most obvious dispute deals with time frame. A builder will estimate the time it takes to complete a project, working through all foreseeable consequences, but unintended problems happen all the time. Delays in getting materials, or delays in finding manpower are quite common. While these challenges are understandable, they still create serious hiccups in the construction process. Companies like Lyle Charles Consulting will often monitor schedules, and will go over any potential liabilities that can cause hiccups in the process.

Don’t forget that these issues extend beyond the house itself. There may be delays while engineers run tests on the soil of an area, or investigate the integrity of a home’s foundation. Demolition presents even greater problems, as there is usually debris that needs clearing before the project can begin.

Materials

The acquisition of supplies can create even greater challenges to construction projects. It can be difficult to acquire a certain kind of metal, depending on scarcity. Limited supplies of wood often cause delays while companies scramble to find a more reliable supplier. In these situations, it helps to use a steel fabrication expert to identify the materials, and to make sure that the structure is built to code.

Costs

Costs are an important factor to consider. Costs directly impact both the quality and time of the job. AS costs go up, quality increases. Lower costs often mean lower quality materials, shoddy work and a job that takes longer. A construction claims consultant can help you set a reasonable cost for your project by evaluating all potential aspects of construction. They can help you find reasonably priced crews, and choose low-cost and high value materials. They can even help in the planning stages, consulting on blue prints or foundation

Other Disputes

Injuries on the job can also lead to disputes, which is why you might consider insurance for the job before work begins. Injuries can be costly, and may eat a lot of your time before and after the project.

3 Unforeseen Problems that Cause Construction Delays

Written By: Lyle Charles

Construction jobs are tightly scheduled, with little room for error. A good construction company is one that is well staffed, and able to meet those tight restrictions. That’s why it’s important to thoroughly vet each job before you take it. One method of due diligence involves hiring construction advisory services. These professionals will assess your job, give detailed recommendations on how to perform it on schedule and provide assessments after the fact to discuss how to improve your work flow. Delays are a concern for any serious contractor. Here are some tips on how to avoid these common pitfalls.

Change Orders

A change order occurs when there is something about the project that needs to be re-spec’d. This could be due to foreseen consequences, like a material shortage that will hit or a construction site with a complex layout. Changes can occur when work has been improperly estimated, but weather can affect it too. Projects also uncover delays as they happen, like a new request or obstacles that prevent a team from continuing work.

The best thing you can do for a change order is to try and plan as best as you can. Construction turnaround services can help you assess a potential job site before the bid, identifying key concerns that could cause problems as the project progresses.

Material Delays

Material delays could be due to a shortage of supplies, or a lack of access. In some cases, materials must be imported from other countries. Hang ups during customs can cause problems that you have little to no control over. You can control material shortages, or at least anticipate them. You can also design the project with minimal materials in mind. A structural steel expert is a good person to consult when you are looking for answers on which materials will work best in your site.

Material ordering issues can also creep up on computer systems, where ordering is largely automated based on the parameters the project manager sets. To prevent these types of errors, employ a second set of eyes to review the project parameters and work requests.

Failure to Coordinate

Manpower is essential to a construction project, but smaller companies hoping to scale often underestimate the value of good workers. A lack of experience can lead to construction delays because work may need redoing, or the project may not be up to code. Inexperience is also a danger to your site, as it can cause physical harm to your workers.

Vetting your employees thoroughly and consulting peers in the industry will help you manage employees more efficiently.