In this era of lawsuits by contractors with claims for delays and unabsorbed overhead, many facilities owners insist on getting a detailed schedule for critical path management before permitting any construction work to start. But do they demand enough documentation? Oftentimes, a contractor will spend thousands of dollars preparing a baseline CPM schedule, to plan the project before the first shovel hits the ground. And frequently, the contractor will update the schedule monthly to show actual construction progress. But very few contractors will use the schedule to spot lurking delays.
DISHONESTY. I have spent the past 15 years working as a scheduling and claims analyst. I also have been a contractor, an owner's representative and an architect's representative. Although I have worked with a number of contractors who were above reproachin terms of fair and honest pricing and requests for additional timeI have worked with many more contractors who had less integrity. This does not imply that all contractors are unscrupulous, but in my experience many are.