Riad AlhammoudProject management| LanganAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
I am working currently in construction project. Usually we are approving materials such as sand and aggregate etc. in the office far away from jobsite, then materials delivered to site.
Recently we observed that the contractor had to bring materials of less quality than what is agreed. We sent an official correspondence to the contractor not to repeat this thing and he is responsible for any defect may occur in the future.
But the contractor reported that the non compliance materials brought to the site by the materials supplier and they will ensure this will not happen in the future.
is the official email will be enough in this case or should we involve the sponsor as well for the corrective action? Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Riad
E-mail won't be enough in this case. You need to issue an official letter for both the material supplier and the contractor.
It is the suppliers responsibility to ensure the material sent is of the required quality and it is the contractor's responsibility to inspect the material upon receipt.
RK
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2 replies by Alexandre Costa and Riad Alhammoud
Mar 28, 2020 3:07 PM
Alexandre Costa
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Hi Rami,
I do not know how is in Canada, but in the European Union an official email has the same strength as an official letter or a contract, depends of the agreed terms.
Alexandre
Mar 30, 2020 3:20 AM
Riad Alhammoud
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Thanks Rami for feedback. As no agreement made with the materials supplier so the official letter should go only for the contractor for the non compliance materials. I guess if the contractor is serious then they should issue letter to their supplier as they have a separate agreement.
Best Regards,
Riad
Saving Changes...
Alexandre CostaScrum Master| Integer Consulting - Pictet technologiesLoures, Portugal
Riad,
The email should be sent for the supplier and the contractor.
the consequences depends of the procurement process established in your project and organization, of the procurement contract and the quality standards signed in the contract and the penalties clauses associated,also depends of the change/issue escalation process described in your plan.
If it's necessary a corrective action and this action as impact on the schedule/cost/quality than you should follow the escalation process of your plan. I do not know if you have project committee or is the sponsor that approves any corrective changes, if is the last case he must be involved in the change approval. At least the sponsor should be informed in the recurrent status reports sent to him even that a corrective action is not necessary and you can solve the issue without any complications.
This type of questions could be different depending of the complexity of the project or the established procedures implemented in the organization, could even exists a procurement manager assigned to the project.
Alexandre.
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1 reply by Riad Alhammoud
Mar 30, 2020 8:58 AM
Riad Alhammoud
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Thanks Alexandros for your input.
Saving Changes...
Alexandre CostaScrum Master| Integer Consulting - Pictet technologiesLoures, Portugal
Mar 28, 2020 2:45 PM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
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Riad
E-mail won't be enough in this case. You need to issue an official letter for both the material supplier and the contractor.
It is the suppliers responsibility to ensure the material sent is of the required quality and it is the contractor's responsibility to inspect the material upon receipt.
RK
Hi Rami,
I do not know how is in Canada, but in the European Union an official email has the same strength as an official letter or a contract, depends of the agreed terms.
Alexandre
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1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Mar 29, 2020 12:09 AM
Rami Kaibni
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Alexandre
Depends on the contract. Official communication should be defined there.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Mar 28, 2020 3:07 PM
Replying to Alexandre Costa
...
Hi Rami,
I do not know how is in Canada, but in the European Union an official email has the same strength as an official letter or a contract, depends of the agreed terms.
Alexandre
Alexandre
Depends on the contract. Official communication should be defined there.
RK Saving Changes...
Srinivas MantralaSRINIVAS S MANTRALA| A.P.S.Police Housing Corporation Ltd.Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Slight Variation in the quality of Materials like Sand and Aggregates may not result in a low quality product in the short term or till Defect liability period. They will pose a problem at a much longer time. Practically speaking you can not take any action on the supplier after DLC period.The quality of the material that goes in the concrete must be checked before it is made.Hence the Contractor Should satisfy on the materials supplied by the supplier before use and reject if they are not confirming to the specification in the first instance. E-mails, letters will not solve your damaged work except in a prolonged litigation
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1 reply by Riad Alhammoud
Mar 30, 2020 8:52 AM
Riad Alhammoud
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Thanks SRINIVAS for your feedback.
10 years warranty is one of the requirements to closing the project so I think this is a good period to let the contractor think about the quality of the end product.
Regarding your statement " E-mails, letters will not solve your damaged work except in a prolonged litigation"
What are the tools to avoid this condition ?
Do you think that full time inspection by the consultant and insisting on following the quality assurance procedures will be sufficient.
Best Regards,
Riad
Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
I hate to write this, in fact I avoid to write this type of things, but it dependes. Depends on what?. 1-Contract. Beyond quality itself the coponents could impact the final product and depends on the domain you are working on it could put in danger human being life (just an example I lived). Take care on that. 2-Accountability. In my personal experience Procurement is accountable for this type of things. Accountability mean they have to take action and take ownership on that. 3-Governance. You wrote if the sponsor has to be reached. That´s will depends on your project governance process. In my case, generally speaking, we did not touch base with the sponsor in this type of issues. But as fat as I undestood you have a problem here: your point of contact is a contrator then they are accountable for this. The contractor must answer you for this and they have to assume the concecuences. Saving Changes...
I think others have addressed the need for formal written communication (as per what is considered such in the area/contract) with all key parties, but engaging the sponsor should be viewed as an escalation option when you and the team are unable to make progress on an issue or action.
Otherwise, you risk being perceived as "The boy who cried wolf" and when you really need the sponsor's assistance they won't be there.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
One of the concerns I have is that, even with written notification, you are acknowledging that full compliance is optional. You are confirming that you over-specified the material requirements, that better quality would be preferable but not critical. You need to take strong action to protect your contractual position, an email won't do it. The contractor/supplier is in beach of contract which could well result in significant costs down the road. They will not be around when it happens.
Too many clients allow quality creep - if you don't deal with it force-ably it will continue and ultimately the contractor will be able to make the case that you were in agreement all along, that you essentially authorized the failure to met the specifications.
A strong legalistic reaction identifying the breach and advising of the penalties, both now and in the future, is a must. Saving Changes...
Riad AlhammoudProject management| LanganAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Mar 28, 2020 2:45 PM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
...
Riad
E-mail won't be enough in this case. You need to issue an official letter for both the material supplier and the contractor.
It is the suppliers responsibility to ensure the material sent is of the required quality and it is the contractor's responsibility to inspect the material upon receipt.
RK
Thanks Rami for feedback. As no agreement made with the materials supplier so the official letter should go only for the contractor for the non compliance materials. I guess if the contractor is serious then they should issue letter to their supplier as they have a separate agreement.
Best Regards,
Riad
...
1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Mar 30, 2020 2:47 PM
Rami Kaibni
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Riad
In this case an official letter should be sent to the contrator highlighting the risks and requesting reassurance that this won't happen again, make sure you request reassurance so you have something in writing back from them.
RK
Saving Changes...
Riad AlhammoudProject management| LanganAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Mar 29, 2020 6:55 AM
Replying to Srinivas Mantrala
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Slight Variation in the quality of Materials like Sand and Aggregates may not result in a low quality product in the short term or till Defect liability period. They will pose a problem at a much longer time. Practically speaking you can not take any action on the supplier after DLC period.The quality of the material that goes in the concrete must be checked before it is made.Hence the Contractor Should satisfy on the materials supplied by the supplier before use and reject if they are not confirming to the specification in the first instance. E-mails, letters will not solve your damaged work except in a prolonged litigation
Thanks SRINIVAS for your feedback.
10 years warranty is one of the requirements to closing the project so I think this is a good period to let the contractor think about the quality of the end product.
Regarding your statement " E-mails, letters will not solve your damaged work except in a prolonged litigation"
What are the tools to avoid this condition ?
Do you think that full time inspection by the consultant and insisting on following the quality assurance procedures will be sufficient.
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