Completion
When project difficulties are proactively identified and resolved, most projects can be steadied and completed as planned. In cases where construction challenges fester, resolution becomes more complex and requires intervention by a specialist to avoid both asset value erosion and stakeholder relationship deterioration with legal entrenchment.
For many reasons, power and energy construction projects can incrementally experience significant construction execution obstacles, and for owners this can be a real challenge. Institutionally, there is usually a desire to trust in-place project teams even when there are noticeable symptoms of an underlying problem. As months pass, the stories evolve, recovery plans are developed and missed. There can be difficulty getting real data out of a troubled project that is consistent with the ‘identified' problem. In some cases, the problems continue unnoticed at a low enough level until the project is in commissioning or into early operation.
These varied situations EPR broadly categorizes as “Completion” challenges. The issues can be related to leadership, process, technical competence, relationship dysfunction, conflicts of interest, personnel selection, or a near limitless variety of semi-structural problems.
EPR has successfully performed many domestic and international project restructuring assignments and is considered by many to be the world-wide leading specialist in diagnosing and correcting very difficult power and energy construction problems. It often takes an innovative approach that combines a strategic commercial/technical view, robust scalable systems, field leadership, and subject-matter experience to bend site culture and raise contractor performance.
The EPR approach prioritizes course-correcting the construction program (time, budget, quality, safety) while also creating an accurate and robust documentation basis of the site conditions. The detailed ‘papering’ of the project is essential so commercial reconciliation can occur and is a prophylactic against ill-advised legal entanglement. EPR clients have yet to require a legal process to resolve commercial differences.
Mid-Execution Restructuring
Sometimes power and energy projects evolve into difficult mid-execution scenarios where the construction, legal, and financial conditions point to an uncertain future for the asset. EPR principals consider this to be an ideal assignment because everyone enjoys the fruits of avoiding a calamity. While most of these assignments are very challenging, EPR believes it is the proper use of our restructuring acumen and management. By comparison late-stage interdiction of a bad circumstance is least desirable simply because there is less time to affect ideal outcomes and can demand acute changes versus an evolving approach.
EPR hasn’t failed to bring badly troubled projects in on time, under budget, and with very high asset quality consistent with the construction contract. This remains true in unionized, non-union, or international circumstances with all different varieties of contracting approaches. EPR restructuring assignments have resulted in high value acknowledgement by clients and appreciated by involved contractors.
Completion Verification
When a heavy industrial facility is in the commissioning phase, EPR can produce a list as an independent 3rd party for use by the owner to guide a contractor to fully complete the facility. The unique approach by EPR includes a highly structured use of SLATE systems with our experienced team to create precise, scalable, prioritized, and priced punchlists that allow for a much more focused contractor close-out before awarding substantial or final completion. This excellent value-added service results in a plant fully ready to enter operation as originally expected and compete reliably for decades.
Project Validation
Like EPR Completion Verification, this service occurs shortly after COD, when there is a late realization a project has suffered from poor construction and commissioning practices.
In these cases, the latent nature of defects starts to become more clearly known due to undependable operation among many indicators. EPR is suited to provide expert diagnosis, recreate the root-cause of the problems, document a commercial/legal position and when appropriate work to expand and re-negotiate the ‘shape’ of the Warranty period support to remedy the often substantial list of issues.
In one instance, after COD, EPR provided a 300,000 item punchlist representing 3-4 million defects and ~$400mm in aggregate claims. This example represents EPR’s ability to quickly and controllably scale into very large claims that are documented in every detail and referenced to the contracted codes, standards, and specifications.
Consulting
All aspects of project planning, engineering, construction, and commissioning involve thousands of activities that need to be performed with established processes and attention to details. When difficulty occurs, EPR can mobilize very quickly to provide a condition assessment, perform root-cause investigations, provide subject-matter expert support, and be an active partner to help resolve any problem.