CLASSIFICATION OF CLAIM-CAUSING EVENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR COMPLEXITY

Abstract

The increasing complexity of construction projects has inevitably led to site managers are facing ever more complex claims. As a result, they are increasingly occupied with claim management. Their primary task, however, is to carry out the project and claim management is considered a secondary task. Furthermore, site managers often lack both the know-how and the resources required for handling complex claims. Attaining a successful outcome for a claim, demands stringent causal evidence for each single event linked to its effects. This makes documentation and quantification of a complex claim exceptionally difficult. Site managers tend to underestimate the complexity of a claim-causing event and as a consequence may often be too late in notifying internal company experts or external consultants focusing on claim management. This paper aims to categorize deviations causing a claim according to its complexity at the time of its occurrence. To do so, a quantitative survey was handed out to site managers in the Austrian construction industry. Based on the findings, the authors designed a decision-making matrix to classify claim-causing events according to their complexity. This will allow site managers to take necessary measures processing a claim and mitigate possible disputes.