At the start of each job, a redacted copy of our client’s master contract with the owner will be requested, for the purpose of reviewing the relevant Change Order requirements, specifically the list of contractual documents and their revisions, change notification deadline, submission deadline, and formatting requirements, to ensure all deliverables are compliant.

As new documents are issued by the Architect, EOR, and/or owner/client, O&I will receive, file, review, and recommend action based on revision and context analysis. 

Large contracts involving multiple tiers of subcontractors can be a bear to manage. O&I can provide coordination services to help align different subcontractors during the design and detailing phase, helping ensure collaboration and the resolution of clashes before they snowball into large issues.

Large contracts often require significant reporting and document compliance, which O&I can help manage. This typically includes as-builts, material certifications, Mill testing documents, coating specification sheets, warranties, and other compliance documentation.

As new contractual documents are received, O&I will review and identify changes introduced by the new documents, highlighting them on the relevant drawings and creating a report of all changes introduced, to be presented to our client.

As changes are identified, automated Change Notifications to the Owner will be issued within the required deadlines, notifying them of the presence of the change, providing a rough order of magnitude of the cost and potential schedule impacts, to be further refined via the estimation process.

As change notifications are sent to the Owner, Change Event numbers will be requested from the Owner, and internal tracking numbers assigned to the changes, ensuring consistent and reliable tracking of change events. Includes filing, updating, and current set functions.

As the project progresses, regular Change Event Reports (CERs) will be issued to ensure the client is updated on the current status of each change, the values, outstanding amounts, negotiated amounts, agreed upon amounts, and any potential issues.

Direct and indirect costs of each change will be evaluated and a detailed estimation summary will be provided for the client’s review. As part of this service, O&I can work with our clients to ensure rates and markup requirements are met, providing seamless integration with existing client standards.

As part of the change estimation process, O&I can provide schedule impact analysis for each change event, providing an estimate of the duration of schedule delays, impacts to other trades, and other indirect impacts from each change event.

As part of the change estimation process, an analysis of the impact of the changes on the overall erection sequence can be provided, highlighting sequencing problems that may not be evident during a cursory review. This service allows the client to recoup indirect costs that may otherwise be missed, ensuring limited out-of-pocket impacts.

O&I acknowledges that other subcontractors will need to provide estimates for their own work areas. O&I can act in the client’s interest by compiling costs from other subcontractors, integrating them into the final proposal, and consolidating any backup required to support the claims. As part of this service, O&I can also communicate directly with other subcontractors to request information, pricing, or updates on behalf of the client.

As a final deliverable for each change event, O&I will provide a polished Change Report including all pricing data, backup documentation, and schedule impacts to the client, with a report indicating the primary arguments that senior management should push as negotiating vectors

In lieu of taking over the management of changes entirely, or in order to support your organization as you scale, O&I can provide parallel change management services, allowing clients to scale operations and continue delivering on contracts while hiring operations work to ramp up internal capacity.

As an additional service, O&I representatives can aid in the presentation of the final Change Report to the Owner, helping to explain the methodology behind the preparation of the report, the estimating process, the historical context, and present the recovery case for the client.

As an additional service, O&I representatives can serve as experts during the negotiation process to further support our deliverables, including interfacing with arbiters, legal counsel, and other resources to provide a consolidated defense for the client.

As an additional service, O&I can aid in the preparation of complex claims for large project issues such as schedule shifts, global market fluctuation impacts, act-of-god events, jobsite safety shutdowns, etc. The scope and breadth of this additional service is to be determined on a case-by-case basis with the client.