PalAl2000

Hello,
This is not a solicitation of business but an honest search of your professional opinion on a possible approach to deal with the problems of managing the important documents generated during construction projects. I have managed the contractual, construction, and financial records for one of the country's largest commercial construction companies for 8 years and with talking to everyone in the business, there seems to be continuing problems with records management. I supply records to 4 legal departments across the nation and seem to do the job extremely well by my record of saving us a ton of money in litigation.
My question is, do you think my knack of finding the right records can be expanded into an internet type consulting facet to advise companies where to look for pertinent records? If given access to a particular job's archives and contacts familiar with the job, I think I could be of service to companies in minimizing litigation costs and doing it at a fraction of the cost of the construction lawyers that I've seen going through records and most of them really didn't know what the meaning behind the documents they were looking for. It would also save the time of Project Managers who are sometimes burdened with this chore.
Any insights into your experiences with your records problems would be greatly appreciated. If the opinion is that this could be a helpful service, I will soon start a website and specify procedures, costs, and services available. Thank You very much

Bryan Weaver

I am an engineer, licensed Gen Eng. Contractor and have managed projects on jobs at O'hare, Detroit airport, Disneyland, and have worked under one of the bigger construction firms (I believe were 8th largest in the country), and presently work for a law firm that does nothing but construction litigation. I know what you are talking about. On a current case , we have received over 40,000 documents from one of the parties, and there are 8 parties involved, so the volume of documents is huge. BTW, all the documents are scanned and distributed via CD/DVDs since we opted to NOT pay a central depository service. No paper involved. That may another way you could offer the scanning service, especially if you go through the trouble to get it organized.

That said, I know what you are referring to regarding the number of documents and the inept law firms that are NOT construction litigation firms, who become swamped by the usual types of documents you would find on a big job. For us, I am one of the people that can sort through docs, as can some of the other attorneys who are also engineers. So your service would not help us, but from what I have seen, your idea of a service could be beneficial to others.

I also have a marketing degree, so I try to see hot you get your service into the hands of the those needing it. That usually is the most difficult part. The problems I see may originate from the construction company's belief that they keep good records, and the impression by the construction company/public entity/owner that the law firm they have hired also understands what the construction business is all about, this is a sales job by the law firm. Whether they can deliver or not is another issue.

For someone to be willing to pay an outsider to organize the documents, there has to be an admitted "need" by either the law firm or the construction company. That is your biggest hurdle. There are outfits that provide document depositories for big jobs, where the client or lawyers have access to these from any computer, but they get rather expensive quickly.

The way I see it is to sell your service to both construction companies and law firms concurrently using the "you will save money by using us" and show them how they can save. Use some numbers and show a quick proforma of what they can expect. If you can present your standard organization format (ie: field notes, submittals, time tickets, change orders, RFI, RFC,) into a useable index, show that this will save time for everyone (even you if it come to having to look for docs for the client).

Here is how it will play out. The construction company hates paying $300/hour for the law firm to do a halfbaked job at what amounts to secretarial work, (not a slam on you, but the overall perception of the staff that usually organizes project paperwork). The law firm attorneys feel the same way, organizing documents is not lawyer work, it is a legal support function (secretary staff work). Getting the construction company to understand they can save $300/hour by having you do it, and getting the lawyers to relieve themselves of "non lawyer" work by using you, benefits everybody. If you can package it that way, you are on your way.

Many large contractors now have a department that does little more than consulting for pending litigation. We use one all the time. Basically they become our construction expert when it come to litigation. These guys also get some pretty good hourly rates. This is the starting point where I would make friends. Bottom line is that you should prove that you will save everybody loads of money by having you do the organization of the documents.

Another way to get your foot in the door of law firms is to offer small seminars to the construction practice groups. One topic that I can think of right off the top of my head is educating the attorneys as to what types of documents will reveal the most information. For example, if it is a delay claim, the daily reports will tend to expose this, or even the project schedule. If the design is claimed to be faulty, you can identify field changes made by the owner or engineer. Usually it is not the emails being sent back and forth that show the construction smoking gun (which is what the attorneys are looking for) but some a little more subtle, like a series of small delays that compound themselves on the critical path. Which brings up other topics, like critical path or non critical path disruptions

I could go on, but I think I have touched on some ideas for you.

PalAl2000

Hello Mr. Weaver,
Yes Sir, you touched on some very good points for me. I wasn’t really expecting such a concise and detailed response. I was just hoping for the verification that it is realized as an industry-wide problem and that executives of construction companies might agree that my service could very well be a cost-effective and efficient means to lower litigation costs.
Just so you know, I am actually experienced in the construction aspect of the business and not just an office person who got pushed into managing records. I worked in the surveying field doing mostly construction layout and road construction for 20 years. I also worked as an estimator for a large commercial construction company in Florida while I attended Florida Int’l University obtaining a BS in Construction Management. It was a strange twist when a Scheduling professor of mine pulled me into the local office of his nationwide company to “temporarily” help them sort out their records problem. I must have done a good job because that was eight years ago and I am now the Records Manager at the corporate headquarters and manage all the records for a couple of billion dollars worth of revenue. I provide records for four legal departments and all audit processes.
I truly believe I can sell the idea of having someone truly knowledgeable about construction records researching an issue instead of legal beagles at four times the cost or the office people that manage company’s records and have no idea of what records do what. You are very right though in stating that I’d have to get over the “admitted need” hurdle. It seems to me that many companies would rather not admit it and muddle through their whole records management process rather than address an obvious problem that is way out of hand. Then they spend the high dollars on expensive attorneys thinking this will solve litigation problems. As you know, the courts look much more favorably on companies who have a structured document retention process than those who scramble to disclose a hodgepodge of non-related documents.
I am a little more confused as to where I want to take this than anything. I really enjoy the company and people I work for and I’m well-compensated and appreciated. So at least for the time-being I only wanted to start by seeing if an online consultation business would draw any interest. As I’m approaching middle-age I have given serious consideration of maybe expanding this to a hands-on business in my area. I’ve even created a 400+ contact list of large construction companies and legal firms that specialize in construction litigation and have a pretty good start on a business plan. I see this as something for a few years in the future though.
I’ve taken up enough of your time. I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t just some sap out fishing for some free opportunity and that the time you took to give me a very informative opinion was very much appreciated. Thank you,Sir!

normandavison

What do you think of Privavera Expedition?
Based on what you think of this system, I have some other thoughts.

atlas06

Mr. weaver,
Thank you for taking the time, I enjoyed reading you, despite the fact that it was not my line of work at all.
You excellent post reminds us to share our knowledge with others while alive and not take it to the grave.

PalAl2000

Hello Atlas,
Bryan has done this on every topic that I've read his replies on. He really takes the time to share his wealth of knowledge which sounds considerable. I hope he reads into everyone's correspondence that his time is appreciated