Double counting across heads
The same cost recovered within prolongation, disruption and a change order.
Expert witness
Contractor, Owner & Subcontractor Damages Calculations
Damages analysis work differs by position in the chain, and the same event produces different, sometimes inconsistent, claims at each level of it.
A contractor claims unpaid work, changes, disruption and time-related cost. An owner claims completion cost, delayed use and rectification. A subcontractor claims against a party that is itself claiming upstream, which raises the question of whether amounts are being passed through, absorbed or double-counted.
Damages analysis may consider direct records, estimates, allocations, comparisons or other supported information. The use of component or aggregate calculations depends on the question and available support; assumptions and possible duplication are addressed in context.
Damages calculations differ by role, and the differences are substantive rather than presentational. A contractor's loss is typically prolongation, disruption and unrecovered cost; an owner's is completion cost, delayed use and consequential effects; a subcontractor's is bounded by a contract with the contractor rather than with the owner, and the chain matters.
Analysts may consider whether cost categories duplicate one another and whether amounts have been attributed more than once. The significance of any duplication depends on the calculations, records and questions presented.
Possible assignment considerations
In practice
- 01
Establish the role and the contract chain
Identify whose loss is being calculated and which contractual relationships bound it.
- 02
Assess the cost records
Determine whether cost can be tied to work, and state plainly where allocation replaces measurement.
- 03
Consider cost categories and duplication
Damages analysis may consider direct records, estimates, allocations, comparisons or other supported information. The use of component or aggregate calculations depends on the question and available support; assumptions and possible duplication are addressed in context.
- 04
Test for duplication
Check across the heads for the same cost appearing more than once before the figure is relied on.
Considerations and limitations
Questions and limitations to consider
Allocation presented as measurement
Assumptions doing the work of records without the calculation admitting it.
Pass-through as a single figure
Presenting a subcontractor's loss without making the contractual chain traceable.
Contractor, Owner & Subcontractor Damages Calculations
Talk to a consultant
Also in this practice
Consulting Expert Witness Opinions & Testimony
- DelayTechnical opinions on delay events, schedule effects and related contract administration.
- DisruptionTechnical opinions on productivity effects, including effects without a change in the completion date.
- TerminationOpinion on the circumstances and consequences of a termination.
- EstimatingTechnical estimating analysis addressing scope, quantities, pricing and assumptions.
- RepairOpinion on repair scope, method and cost to restore what was damaged or defective.
- Completion CostsTechnical analysis of remaining work and construction completion costs.
- Estimating
- Repair
- Completion Costs
- Construction DefectsOpinion on the existence, cause and cost of remedy of alleged defects.
- Construction Industry StandardsConstruction-practice opinions grounded in the project facts and records.
- Construction Contract AdministrationOpinions on day-to-day administration of contracts and subcontracts from a contractor project manager’s perspective.
- Delay DamagesTechnical analysis of delay-related costs, supporting records and assumptions.
- Forensic Construction AccountingTracing claimed cost back through the books to what was actually spent.
- Property Damage Expert OpinionsOpinion on first-party windstorm, hurricane and water losses: scope, repair and cost.