Tampa · Hillsborough County

Tampa Construction Expert Witnesses

Delay, disruption, termination, construction defects and first-party claims.

Forensic schedule analysis, delay and disruption opinions, and testimony for Tampa construction disputes, plus CPM schedule consulting while a project is still running, from an office about 17 miles from the downtown Tampa courthouses.

When a Tampa project finishes late, the dispute usually turns on a few questions. Which events actually moved the completion date? How much time does each one account for? What do the baseline, the updates and the daily record show, as opposed to what each side remembers? Oxley answers those questions with forensic schedule analysis, and Daniel R. Zorrilla, J.D., BSBC, CGC, CFCC, explains the results in reports and testimony.

Oxley's construction expert witnesses address delay, disruption, termination, construction defects and first-party claims in Tampa construction disputes.

Oxley's office is at 13830 58th St N, Suite 403, Clearwater, FL 33760. By road the office is about 17 miles from downtown Tampa, where both the state civil courthouse and the federal courthouse are located. Depositions, mediations, site visits and document reviews in Tampa are a short drive, not a trip.

Owners and developers: fixed-fee schedule reviews while the project is running.

Contractors: time questions on a live project are easier to analyze while the records are current. The analysis addresses what the schedule and records show.

Tampa courts and forums where delay opinions are tested

State court: Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, George E. Edgecomb Courthouse, 800 E. Twiggs St., Tampa, which also lists a business court division and coordinates court-ordered civil mediation.

Federal court: Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse, 801 N. Florida Ave., serving Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties.

Appeals: Florida's Second District Court of Appeal, headquartered in St. Petersburg and covering the Sixth, Twelfth and Thirteenth Circuits since January 1, 2023; federal appeals go to the Eleventh Circuit.

Arbitration and mediation: many Tampa contracts require mediation first or arbitration, often under the AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Rules. The analysis is the same in each forum; disclosure timing, report format and how testimony is taken change.

The Tampa projects behind these disputes

Downtown and waterfront high-rise residential and mixed-use towers, hospital and university buildings, hotels, distribution facilities, and road, bridge, utility and port work all generate schedule disputes. The owner's identity shapes the contract: public owners bring their own schedule specifications, time-extension procedures, notice requirements and liquidated damages clauses, and those terms frame any delay analysis.

Public owners that build in Tampa include the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (Tampa International Airport and its general aviation airports), Port Tampa Bay, the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority, Hillsborough County Public Schools and the Florida Department of Transportation's District Seven, which is headquartered in Tampa. They are listed here to describe the local market, not as Oxley clients.

Dan's experience, as an employee and as an expert, includes high-rise condominiums, hotels, student housing, infrastructure, highways and bridges, airports and federal facilities. Earlier in his career, he managed condominium, hotel and resort construction for general contractors.

Selected project experience

Daniel R. Zorrilla's Florida work includes projects he managed for general contractors and later consulting and expert assignments. Consulting and expert work is described by project and issue type only.

From 2005 to 2008, he was a senior project manager in the Tampa office of Hardin Construction (acquired by DPR Construction in 2013), managing construction of a $28 million condominium in Tampa and a $124 million resort in Puerto Rico.

Projects managed.

  • Ventana condominium, Tampa. Senior Project Manager.
  • Regatta condominiums, North Beach (Miami-Dade). Project Manager.
  • The Park at Riverbridge, West Palm Beach. Project Manager.
  • Westin Sarasota hotel and Vue Sarasota condominium (Senior Project Manager for the general contractor).
  • Porto Bellagio condominiums, Sunny Isles Beach. Assistant Project Manager.

Tampa Bay consulting and expert assignments.

  • Airport people mover stations and guideway, Tampa Bay area. Delay analysis and acceleration.
  • Selmon West Extension (SR-618). Delay analysis.
  • Gandy Boulevard road and bridge. Delay and earned value.
  • Airport landside improvements and expansion, Tampa Bay area. Delay and disruption.
  • Hospital bed tower, Tampa. Delay and disruption.
  • Hotel, Tampa. Delay.
  • Student housing, Tampa. Delay and termination.
  • Power plant duct replacement, Tampa Bay. Termination.
  • Apartment, Tampa. Contract/code compliance.
  • Mixed-use hotel, Tampa. Disruption and inefficiency.
  • Church, Tampa. Delay and damages.
  • High-rise residential, Tampa. Liability, delay, damages.

What a Tampa delay assignment covers

  • Construction schedule consulting during the project. CPM baseline schedules, updates, recovery schedules and schedule reviews, so a time question is documented while the work is still running. See construction schedule consultant services, TIA review and TIA preparation.
  • Forensic delay analysis. Windows analysis, as-planned versus as-built comparison, retrospective TIA or as-built reconstruction, chosen to fit the contract and the records, as described in AACE International Recommended Practice No. 29R-03.
  • Concurrency. Identifying, period by period, whether delays were concurrent on the critical path. How concurrent delay is treated depends on the contract and applicable law, which are for counsel and the tribunal.
  • Disruption and lost productivity. Separating lost efficiency from lost time, with the productivity records that support each. See disruption.
  • Damages. Time-related cost, extended general conditions and related delay damages, tied to the periods the schedule analysis supports.
  • Testimony and mediation. Expert reports, rebuttal of an opposing delay analysis, deposition and trial or arbitration testimony, and technical support at mediation.

More on method and scope is on the construction delay expert witness page.

Who does the work

Daniel R. Zorrilla is Oxley's President and testifying expert. He has worked in construction consulting and expert work since 2008, with a return to project management in 2014–2015. Dan has been with Oxley since 2015, after consulting with Trace Management from 2008. He has testified in more than 40 cases, in litigation, including federal court, and in arbitration. He has been retained as a consultant or expert in more than 100 construction matters. He is a Florida Certified General Contractor (CGC1506197), an AACE International Certified Forensic Claims Consultant, a panelist of the American Arbitration Association, and a Florida Supreme Court Certified County and Circuit Court Mediator (Florida Courts mediator lookup).

Dan earned his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 2011. He is a member of The Florida Bar and does not practice law. Work through Oxley is technical consulting, not legal representation or legal advice. Scheduling support comes from David Hengelbrok, P.E., PSP, and Jeremy Easen, CGC.

We act for only one party on a project, and fees do not depend on findings. Conflicts are checked before substantive work begins, and a CV and testimony history are available to counsel on request.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Which courts hear Tampa construction delay cases?

Tampa delay opinions are tested in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse, 800 E. Twiggs St., Tampa, which also lists a business court division and coordinates court-ordered civil mediation, and in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, at the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse, 801 N. Florida Ave.

What does a Tampa delay assignment cover?

A Tampa delay assignment may include construction schedule consulting during the project, forensic delay analysis suited to the contract and the records, concurrent-delay questions, disruption and lost productivity, delay damages tied to the periods the schedule analysis supports, and testimony or technical support at mediation.

Who does the Tampa delay work?

Daniel R. Zorrilla, J.D., BSBC, CGC, CFCC, is Oxley's President and testifying expert. He is based in Clearwater and has testified in more than 40 cases, in litigation, including federal court, and in arbitration.

Nearby coverage

For matters elsewhere in the county, see Hillsborough County. Across the bay: Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and Pasco County. Statewide: all Florida areas.

To discuss a Tampa project or dispute, call 727-821-9190 or send a message. For conflict review, start with party names and a brief nonconfidential description.