The Construction Industry Has Developed A Reputation For Shady Deals

Privatization has grown exponentially over the years as the government continues to try to find more economic ways to conduct business. Through the use of contracts, this is achieved by utilizing the lowest bidder. Should the work being done not meet the standards set forth, the contract is not renewed and the process begins again saving the government money by not having to hire Civil Servants who are then employees of the government, whom do not have a contract and are very difficult to get rid of should their work not be satisfactory.

© Crown copyright 1994 Applications for reproduction should be made to HMSO First published 1994

Roger Berg, the Vice President for Planning of the Lake Corporation, had to recommend a subcontractor for the environmental study project in connection with their planned large resort.  The contract has been decided in principle to be awarded to Ceil Grant, one of their regular subcontractors. However, after a lunch conversation with Del, who represented a larger contractor firm, Roger changed his mind, now recommending Del’s company to take on the project instead. Faced with a situation of moral dilemma, he has to decide what would be the right thing to

This review will address several issues associated with the legal, business, and ethics related with the case. First, it will address the legality of the case by reviewing the difference between a written and oral contract, and the results of recovering fees. Next, this review will analyze the business effect of the case as it relates to the monetary bottom line and Chuckrow’s attempt to protect his profits. Subsequently, it will highlight the unethical behavior of Chuckrow and its potential effects on future subcontractors’ trust in

However, lately subcontractor has been put in the spot light because of their lack of responsibility.

Law 95-563, by which only contractors, not subcontractors, may pursue claims against the government, and the term “contractor” is clearly defined as “a party to a Government contract other that the Government.” 41 U.S. C. §601 (4). To make the even clearer, the FAR prohibits a government contracting officer from consenting to a subcontract that obligates the contracting officer to deal directly with a subcontractor or that makes the results of arbitration, judicial determination or voluntary settlement between the prime contractor ad subcontractor binding on the government. FAR 44.203 (b). Lack of privities and the resulting barrier to direct claims does not, however, mean that no way whatsoever exists for a subcontractor’s claim to be heard. The regulations permit and the astute government contractor will ensure that its subcontract with the federal prime contractor will provide for “sponsorship of a subcontractor’s claim. Sponsorship is the practice whereby the prime contractor nominally prosecutes what in fact is the subcontractor’s claim against the government. The appeal of the claim is brought in the name of prime contractor even though the subcontractor is the real party in interest. FAR 44.203 (c) (Government Contract Law, pp. 419-420). Performance and payment bonds are an available tool to be mandated by the government for the protection of itself and of subcontractors.

The second problem arises during the time of handover of the project. This is the time where the contractors make the most nuisances and one will surely have to go through some legal hazards during that stage.

Then set attainable schedules, as schedules like “pretty on paper” and are nowhere near reality. Thorough time and cost supervision improves trustworthiness. Per chance implement a specific team to monitor the schedule and budget standards. Then impress upon the team to alert me on any important issues before the next project meeting. Then, I believe that an external body should examine the work being done by the contractors to find any defects. Yes, this project was funded by federal and state money and I am sure that there were engineers and architects monitoring the quality of the work being done. However, from experience, so many short-cuts are used by contractors to save time and money. Furthermore, many inspectors truly do not pay attention to everything. So with this, I believe that fines and penalties should be assessed to the contractors if imperfections are found in the future that are related to craftsmanship. Additionally, fines must be related to the contractor’s inability to meet time lines. However, if the contractor can supply valid issues related to their inability to deliver, fines will not be

In construction projects, mostly the firms (in this case the firms become client) do not have the skills or develop skills inside the firms to undertake the projects due to amount of the projects should be conducted or the complexity of the projects (Reve and Levitt, 1984). Therefore, the economic decision to conduct the projects is to procure them to third parties. However, more commonly the client agonize the final quality of the projects will meet standard requirements. Thus, impacts to involvement of complex contracts of construction procurement.

First, the ethical dilemma itself will be outlined. In the construction industry, it is often necessary for an owner or a construction company to enlist the help of other smaller or more specialized companies in the completion of a project. This practice is known as contracting. When an owner or company, referred to as the contractor, wants to contract out for a job, they will list the job and interested companies will bid for the contract. When arriving at a bid amount, interested companies will estimate

Construction projects are always unique and risks raise from a number of the different sources. Construction projects are inherently complex and dynamic, and involving multiple feedback processes. A lot of participants – individuals and organizations are actively involved in the construction project, and they interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of the project execution or project completion. Different participants with different experience and skills usually have different expectations and interests. This naturally creates problems and confusion for even the most experienced project managers and contractors.

The need for financial stringency in public organizations due to budgetary pressures and tax resistance coupled with the need to Managing /balancing budget deficits and provide quality services with a reduction in revenue has always been a major challenge for public organizations. The need to save money and at the same time provide quality services, had forced government agencies to privatize and contract out. Recently, there is greater involvement of the private and nonprofit sector in public service delivery. More and more government functions in service delivery are now carried out by private and nonprofit organization. This is one part attributed to the belief that private organizations can provide services more efficiently and effectively than government operated services. And the other is the fact that it is cost effective and takes a lesser time frame. These two process are indeed unarguably beneficial to the government and private sector as well as the beneficiaries, but they can be also very daunting accompanied with huge challenges especially when not executed in the rightful manner. The case of the crummy contractor by Rainey depicts such a complex situation , where the process of contracting out was poorly conducted. The case highlights the demand for privatization and contracting-out and most importantly some of the challenges of privatization and contracting in government organization. it goes on further to identify some crucial pointed to be

Within a project, the project’s success and budget belong to and are the responsibility of the customer. The Customer should have the final say in regards to what is acceptable and unacceptable in regards to risk and the quantification of risk. It is however, the contractor’s responsibility to be the primary source of expertise on a project or what they are being contracted to do. The contractor should offer their opinion and recommendations, and the customer should take their contractors opinions and recommendations seriously due to their expertise in the area. Overall, collaboration between the customer and the contractor should be the ultimate way to resolve a matter of dispute. Members from both the customer and contractor side should meet discuss historical events, modeling and simulation to arrive at the appropriate answer. Also, with quantifying risk, the customer and the contractor should be able to go back and look at the data. With risk quantification, there should be very little room for opinion and judgment which should make it easy to base a decision or a resolution based on hard core data. If a solution or an answer is not able to be decided upon, a third party consultation

When engaging in a construction contract, time is of the essence and running over time projections can cause literally millions of dollars in additional non-contract costs. Therefore, construction contracts that can provide incentives to complete the project on time or early are beneficial because they effectively penalized contractors who fail to deliver on-time performance. With a CPIF contract, the

There however are challenges in the industry occasioned by uncertainty on future spending on construction projects by the government. Moreover, the cost of doing business and the ability to increasingly make revenue have created a challenging environment for the construction firms. Therefore stakeholders in the construction industry are concerned with whether the government would increase its spending and whether the public construction projects will be available in the future since less than 10 percent are currently financing their clients.