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ON THE MOVE GZA WELCOMES
CHRISTOPHER
as a project manager at O’Leary Construction, Inc., a global engineering, management, and development contractor. He has worked with clients such as Con Edison and National Grid on several civil construction projects coordinating project permits, project staff, material handling, as well as generating daily reports, performance statements, invoicing, and project close out documents. GZA CEO Pat Sheehan, said, “Chris Anastasiou brings over a decade of industry knowledge in specialty construction management and site remediation throughout the greater New York and Long Island regions. His leadership and in-depth experience as a successful project manager will expand GZA’s capabilities with our local long-term energy projects and provide excellent services to our clients in the metropolitan area.”
Anastasiou earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from Stony Brook University on Long Island and holds certifications in E-Railsafe contractor safety, Applied Groundwater Flow & Contaminant Transport Modeling, National Oil Heat Research Alliance Oil Technician, and is a New York State Certified Asbestos Inspector. He also is a current member of the New York State Council of Professional Geologists and the National Groundwater Association. GZA is a multi-disciplinary, employee- owned firm providing geotechnical, environmental, ecological, water, and construction management services. GZA’s more than 700 professionals are based in 30 offices in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Great Lakes States.
ANASTASIOU CONSTRUCTION
AS
SENIOR
MANAGER GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., a leading multi- disciplinary firm providing ecological, geotechnical, environmental, water, and construction management services, has named Christopher Anastasiou as a senior construction manager based in GZA’s Manhattan office. Anastasiou has more than 18 years of experience in project and construction management in commercial development and redevelopment and environmental remediation consulting throughout the New York metropolitan areas. He brings GZA deep expertise in cost estimation, contractor and subcontractor coordination on behalf of clients, health and safety plan preparation, and related client services. Prior to joining GZA, Anastasiou served
responsibilities. This is an example of where well-defined contract allowances for time extensions due to delays outside of the contractors control can help establish a contractor/ owner relationship centered on teamwork, trust, and transparency, which will benefit the project. Dr. Patricia Galloway summarizes this point very well in a paper titled “The Art of Allocating Risk in an EPC Contract to Minimize Disputes.” “Every risk has an associated price, whether that be visible or hidden,” Galloway writes. “Visible risk cost shows up as project contingency or insurance costs and can be compared. It is the onerous contract clauses that promote hidden costs. How risk is allocated will have a significant determination on how a project is financed. Owners can certainly transfer risk to the contractor but need to recognize that in doing so, there is a cost to that risk premium. Allocating risk to the party most able to control and manage it is always a good starting point. Innovative risk sharing arrangements have become the best method of allocating risk and reducing the total contract price. Carefully thought out contract clauses relative to risk allocation and risk exposure limitation that do not grossly and inequitably allocate all the risk to the contractor positively impacts overall project performance and the owner-contractor working relationship.” The next time you negotiate contract terms, remember to allocate risk to the party in the best position to control the risk. Then do not be afraid to get creative about clearly defining baseline conditions with fair incentives and penalties that encourage both parties to do the right thing. Sol Sim is vice president at SCS Engineers. He can be reached at ssim@scsengineers.com.
SOL SIM, from page 10
and this is often the longest and most arduous phase of the project. Allocating and monetizing risk is usually what bogs down contract negotiations. But if owners and contractors take more of a team (versus adversarial) approach to identifying and allocating risks, the process will go much smoother. Experienced owners and contractors can alleviate the stress involved when negotiating risk terms, because they have the ability to identify possible risks at early stages of project development. However, simply identifying potential risks is only part of the process. Allocating them is another. Owners may try to shift the bulk of the risk to the contractor, as long as they can afford the associated fee increase. But speaking as a contractor, I feel that accepting risk that is out of our control can lead to mistrust. It is in the interest of both parties to critically review risks and allocate them to the party most capable of controlling them. Some owners believe that if the risk is allocated to another party, the risk simply goes away – but that is not the case. Here at SCS, we see this risk allocation balancing act most notably in regards to the project schedule. Our RNG clients are eager to begin producing RNG as soon as possible in order to realize return on their investment. Our contracts may contain fairly significant liquidated damages, which are often an owner’s best recourse for mitigating the risk of project delays. While most contractors understand there are real costs for not meeting project schedules, it is important to acknowledge that there are always owner responsibilities that can have an impact on the schedule. Land use and environmental permitting, which typically begin well in advance of EPC contract negotiations are some of the more typical owner
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THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 6, 2022, ISSUE 1444
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