| Term/Phrase |
Description/discussion |
| ADR |
Alternative Disputes Resolution. The term has
arisen as more alternatives to arbitration have been added to the venues for disputes
resolution. Broadly, ADR refers to any legal venue for the resolution of a construction
dispute other than full term litigation. |
| Acceleration |
The use of
additional resources or additional working hours to improve or to recover performance
goals. Can be directed (authorized) or "constructive"-required by contractual
conditions. (See "constructive" hereafter.) |
| Advocacy |
Black's Dictionary
says: "The act of pleading for, supporting or recommending active espousal." In
practice, this means that the advocate (the attorney) is not only allowed, but, in a
sense, required to use every legal weapon to advance his client's position. That's why the
environment of the law is so uncomfortable for the rest of us, and why reasoned
negotiation offers so many advantages |
| Aftermath |
An apt idea to
consider at the beginning of your project. If the mathematics (dimensions, budgets,
quantities, markups, durations) aren't right, there is likely to be too much
"after": costs, changes, delays, frustration, claims, attorneys, other
strangers.... (see page 141). |
| Audit |
Scrutiny of records.
The term may be either used as a noun or a verb. It may apply to records of continuing
work (usually cost and performance reports), or to company records and to completed work
(often accounting records). Distinctly different perspectives and capabilities apply to
either application. |
| Boilerplate |
That part of the
Specifications which defines the administrative requirements associated with the
construction documents. Typically, Divisions 0 and 1 incorporate the boilerplate elements
of the specifications. |
| C+FF |
Cost Plus Fixed Fee
(also CPFF): A contract for services which fixes the fee to be paid to the party
performing the services defined by the contract, leaving the direct, indirect and
reimbursable costs of the work to be performed under some other control, such as
competitively bid lump-sum contracts, Time and Materials, etc. See chapter 19 |
| CPM |
The Critical Path
Method. See chapter 14 and A-2. |
| Compensable |
Refers to asserted
damages if two conditions are met: (1) the cause of the damages were beyond the control of
the party asserting the damages; and (2) the damages are not excluded by the terms of the
Contract (as for instance damages due to strikes, Acts of God, etc.). The opposite term is
"Non-compensable." |
| Construction
Management |
(CM) The term has
become so loosely interpreted and implemented that contemplation of what it means can only
be defined by any respective owner after careful consideration of the description of
management in chapter 7, and of chapters 16 and 17. |
| Court |
The venue in which
trials are heard and judgments rendered. The word "court" is also often used as
a synonym for the "judge." |
| Discovery |
In a litigation the
term is used to include any of the several devices that can be used to obtain facts and
information about the case from an opposing party. These devices include (but are not
necessarily limited to) interrogatories, depositions, production of documents,
examinations of witnesses, or requests for admission of evidence. |
| Entitlement |
A condition that
attaches to a complaint once the assertions underlying that complaint are proven. See
extended discussion after page 214. |
| GMP |
Guaranteed Maximum
Price. The concept of a GMP is discussed in chapter 19. (See pages 76, 88, 89.) |
| Interrogatories |
A series of
questions propounded in a prescribed format by one attorney to the attorney of the
opposing party. The ostensible purpose is to make more efficient the gathering of
information that could lead to resolving a claim. The practical use of the device by
attorneys is to expand the time, the inconvenience and the costs of the opposing party to
the extent that it is deemed to benefit the propounding attorney's strategy. As a
realistic matter, interrogatories seldom produce information of any substance in
construction-claims matters. See box on page 171. |
| Learning
Curve |
In most
labor-intensive work, the efficiency of labor improves with time. This can be represented
by a curve that reflects an increase of productivity over time. The curve is often
referred to as the "learning curve." |
| Multiple
Prime(s) |
A system of
Agreements executed between the owner and separate parties (therefore "multiple"
or "segregated") for services. The presumption (not always realized) is that the
aggregate of these agreements will perform the entire Work required to complete the
project. Also "Segregated Prime." See chapter 19. |
| Probable
Construction Cost |
The AIA design
agreements commit the architect to provide the owner with the "probable construction
cost" or "estimated construction cost" of the project at the end of each
phase of design. See extended discussion in chapter 18. |
| Ripple |
This has become
another construction-claim term of art that accompanies impact. It is typically used to
include and/or describe the consequential impacts to the performance of the Work that
result from an event earlier in the project. As for example, the delay to early concrete
work may have a ripple effect on the ability of other trades to perform their work. See
chapter 15. |
| Stacking |
As in "stacking
of trades," a condition often associated with assertions of acceleration or
compression, used to assert an argument for loss of efficiency as result of these impacts. |
| Stranger |
Someone you would
not allow to control your checking account. Used in this context, "stranger"
does not necessarily exclude acquaintances. It is used in this book essentially to
emphasize a level of trust both in someone's integrity and in his or her capacity to
represent the owner objectively and competently in the matters required for delivery of a
successful project. |
| Wasting
Policy |
An insurance policy
or surety-bond policy may contain a clause that provides that costs expended by the surety
in defending legal actions will be charged against the coverage value of the policy. A
party who prevails in an action to recover the policy amount may find that it has been
substantially reduced before the judgment is rendered. See chapter 12. |
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