Construction Termination Expert Witnesses in Florida

The short answer

What Oxley’s construction termination experts do

Oxley provides construction termination expert witness services to counsel and parties when a contract has been ended and the construction record is in dispute. Daniel R. Zorrilla, J.D., BSBC, CGC, CFCC, leads the work as testifying expert. Assignments may involve termination for default or termination for convenience. The labels come from the contract. The technical work examines work status, progress, contract administration and completion costs at the relevant date.

The focus is the construction record and the practical management of the contract and subcontracts. Whether a termination was legally proper is for counsel and the tribunal. Work through Oxley is technical consulting, not legal representation.

Related completion-cost questions are also addressed on the completion costs page.

Testifying expertDaniel R. Zorrilla, J.D., BSBC, CGC, CFCC, President
Scheduling teamDavid Hengelbrok, P.E., PSP, and Jeremy Easen, BSBC, CGC
Typical questionsWork status at termination, administration records, completion costs, betterment and added scope
TestimonyDan 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.
WhereTampa Bay (Clearwater office). Primarily Florida, with more than 10 out-of-state cases and consulting matters.
Retained byOwners, developers, public entities, contractors, subcontractors, insurers, sureties and their counsel

Who does the work

Daniel R. Zorrilla, J.D., BSBC, CGC, CFCC

Dan Zorrilla is Oxley’s President and a testifying expert whose practice areas include termination and completion costs, along with schedule delay, disruption, construction defects and related damages.

He has been in construction since 1991 and in consulting and expert work since 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.

After earning his J.D. in 2011, he practiced law for about a year on litigated matters. He is a member of The Florida Bar and does not practice law.

CV and testimony history available to counsel on request. Full profile →

The scheduling team behind the analysis

David Hengelbrok, P.E., PSP

Sr. Schedule Consultant

David performs CPM scheduling in Primavera P6, schedule narratives and time impact analyses, and has supported expert reports and testimony on delay, disruption, acceleration, productivity, termination and associated damages.

Florida Professional Engineer PE 93179
AACE International Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP)
B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Florida, 2014

Jeremy Easen, BSBC, CGC

Construction Scheduling Consultant

Jeremy brings more than 25 years of field and operations experience with general contractors. He provides CPM scheduling, analyzes delay claims and inspects on-site conditions in support of the testifying expert’s analysis.

Florida Certified General Contractor CGC1522591
B.S., Building Construction, with Honors, University of Florida (M.E. Rinker School of Construction Management), 2000

Methods

How a termination assignment is analyzed

Technical questions may concern the extent of completed work, recorded progress, available work fronts, reported conditions and the information project managers had at the relevant time. The scope depends on the assigned questions and supporting records.

An assignment may assess the state of the work at the relevant date using observations, photographs, inspection records, payment applications and other evidence. Any reconstruction depends on the support and limitations of those sources.

Work status at termination

What do the records show about completed work, reported conditions and remaining scope when the contract ended?

Construction and administration records

How do work-in-place records, construction documents and inspection information describe incomplete or reported defective elements?

Analyze the cost to complete

Examine the completion cost and separate finishing the original scope from betterment or added scope.

Default and convenience

The contract’s termination provisions affect which cost and scope questions matter. The technical analysis still has to be tied to the contemporaneous record.

Address material contrary evidence

Consider material evidence relevant to the assigned questions, including information contrary to a proposed conclusion.

Later completion by others

Later changes to the site and completion by others can conceal the position at the termination date if that later condition is treated as if it had been there all along.

How an assignment runs

From the record to the opinion

01

Establish the documentary position

Assess what payment applications, photographs, inspections and other contemporaneous records can actually support about the work at the relevant date.

02

Isolate remaining scope

Distinguish incomplete original work from repairs, changed work and other cost components.

03

Analyze completion costs

Examine the cost to complete using the records and assumptions that relate to the assigned questions.

04

State the opinion and its limits

Set out the conclusion, the basis for it, and the points at which the evidence stops supporting a firm view.

Project types

Projects behind the termination work

The team’s project and testimony experience covers high-rise condominiums and apartments, hotels and resorts, mixed-use and student housing, schools and medical facilities, roads, bridges and highways, airports, residential development infrastructure, federal and defense facilities, warehouses and distribution centers, and industrial and power facilities.

Possible assignment outputs

Assessment of progress and performance at the termination date
Analysis of completion costs and their attribution
Distinctions among remaining original scope, repairs, improvements and added scope
Technical findings and, when part of the engagement, expert testimony at deposition, trial, arbitration or mediation

When this comes up

A contractor disputes a default termination or seeks its termination costs.
A contract has been terminated for default or for convenience, and work status or administrative records are disputed
Completion costs are being claimed against a terminated contractor or its surety
The extent of completion at termination is contested
The allocation among original scope, repairs, betterment and added scope is disputed

Where we work

Tampa Bay and Florida, with out-of-state matters

Oxley is based in Clearwater, in Tampa Bay, and works primarily in Florida, with more than 10 out-of-state cases and consulting matters.

Tampa Bay

Office in Clearwater. Serving matters in the Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pinellas and Pasco), the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough), the Twelfth Judicial Circuit (including Sarasota and Manatee) and the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. Clearwater · Tampa · St. Petersburg · Pinellas County · Hillsborough County · Sarasota

Florida

Serving matters statewide in Florida circuit courts, the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, arbitration and mediation. Orlando · South Florida · Jacksonville · Gainesville · Naples & Fort Myers · All Florida areas

Out-of-state matters

Matters involving projects outside Florida, in court and in arbitration, including AAA arbitration. The analysis follows the governing contract and the forum’s rules on expert testimony.

Independence

What a reliable termination opinion avoids

Oxley acts for only one party on a project. Fees do not depend on the findings. Any earlier role on the project is disclosed at intake.

Reconstructing from the finished building

Assessing the position at termination from the site as later completed, which conceals what was actually there.

Betterment counted as loss

Unexplained distinctions or allocations among original scope, repairs, changed work and other cost components.

Material contrary evidence left out

Failing to address material evidence relevant to the assigned questions, including information contrary to a proposed conclusion.

FAQ

Construction termination expert witnesses: common questions

What does a construction termination expert witness do?

A termination assignment examines the construction record at the relevant date: the extent of completed work, recorded progress, administration of the contract and subcontracts, and completion-cost questions that follow. The focus is the construction record and the practical management of the contract, not a legal conclusion about whether a termination was proper.

What is the difference between termination for default and termination for convenience?

Those labels come from the contract. Termination for default and termination for convenience can raise different cost and scope questions, but the technical work still starts with the same record: work status at the relevant date, contemporaneous documents, and what it costs to complete original scope as opposed to repairs, betterment or added scope. How the contract treats those categories is for counsel and the tribunal.

Who is Oxley’s construction termination expert?

Daniel R. Zorrilla, J.D., BSBC, CGC, CFCC, is Oxley’s President and a testifying expert whose practice areas include termination and completion costs. David Hengelbrok, P.E., PSP, has supported expert reports and testimony on termination and associated damages. Jeremy Easen, BSBC, CGC, inspects on-site conditions in support of the testifying expert’s analysis.

How are completion costs analyzed after a termination?

Completion-cost questions may concern remaining work, original scope, repairs, changed work and the records supporting particular cost allocations. The assessment can also examine how those scopes and costs were documented and administered. Betterment and added scope are identified separately when those questions are in the assignment.

Why does the termination-date record matter?

A retrospective assessment may examine the work and administrative record at the termination date. Later changes to the site, completion by others and gaps in contemporaneous information can affect what a reconstruction represents. Assessing the position at termination from the building as later completed can conceal what was actually there.

Does Oxley work for owners, contractors or sureties?

Oxley is retained by owners, developers, public entities, contractors, subcontractors, insurers, sureties and their counsel. Oxley acts for only one party on a project. Fees do not depend on the findings.

Where does Oxley provide termination expert witness services?

Oxley is based in Clearwater, in Tampa Bay, and handles matters across Florida and matters involving projects outside Florida.

What should we send for a first conversation?

Party names and a brief nonconfidential description for conflict review only. Please wait until Oxley confirms intake before sending confidential or substantive materials.

For counsel

Talk to a consultant

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Construction Termination Expert Witnesses