Innovative Construction Dispute Solutions … To Infinity and Beyond
Quantum Global Solutions is an independent global construction support consultancy dedicated to supporting the construction industry to manage their projects and avoid disputes. British founded and managed we partner with many of the leading law firms, contractors and employers around the world.
Our experienced teams, working across Europe, USA, Asia, MENA and Africa provide contractual, commercial and planning support to construction teams with expertise in forensic delay, quantum analysis and the preparation of entitlement submissions for the resolution of construction claims and disputes.
Quantum meets the specific business objectives of each client by delivering bespoke solutions for each challenge including contractual/commercial services, forensic planning, dispute resolution, construction claims, litigation support, litigation funding, dispute solutions, expert witness testimony, industry training programmes and forensic services.
As a leading industry specialist, the Quantum team comprises over 120 industry specialists with experts in many fields including practising arbitrators, adjudicators, testifying expert witnesses and mediators, chartered engineers, chartered surveyors, contracts/commercial specialists, quantity surveyors, forensic delay analysts and media specialists. Our strong reputation around the world for exceptional quality of service is at the heart of our company’s customer-centric focus.
Our Dispute Solutions team includes employees with advanced post-graduate qualifications, accreditation and extensive international experience in ADR, specifically in arbitration, adjudication and mediation. Together with backgrounds of hard-earned, on-the-job experience in construction and project management, we provide clients with a multi-skilled resource specifically in relation to contentious construction matters.
Our clients, therefore, have access not only to dedicated construction and claims management support but also to seasoned litigation and arbitration professionals grounded in legal support functions, preparing cases for trial and presenting their opinion evidence in live proceedings. The Quantum Global Solution Dispute Solutions team is equipped to recommend alternative and bespoke ADR mechanisms and has recently been engaged in resolving several disputes through expert determinations, mediation and special purpose ADR processes.
Quantum is regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and is committed to setting and upholding the highest standards.
How does Quantum work with and support Law Firms?
Construction projects are increasingly unique, complex and challenging and disputes are commonplace. British founded and managed, Quantum Global Solutions is among the market leaders in providing contractual, commercial, and forensic planning consultancy services to many of the leading lawyers, contractors and employers around the world.
When an issue escalates to formal dispute, Quantum assists its clients to prepare or defend a case. This includes clearly identifying and highlighting the significant issues and separating them from the less important issues surround most cases. Quantum brings Clarity, Focus and Resolution to construction issues.
In supporting and complementing the services of legal teams, Quantum provides the appropriate level of expertise at the right time, allowing a case to progress in an efficient manner. Drawing on skills developed from a background of construction management and project delivery, Quantum’s experienced teams offer a focused approach, based around:
- Initial analysis and preliminary advice – reviewing available documentation, statements of claim, defence and providing an initial opinion on liability
- Review of strengths and weaknesses – support with a detailed review of the evidence and party positions, to help inform on strategies for either prosecuting or defending claims.
- Expert reports – provision of expert services and the development of reports on matters of delay, matters of Quantum and matters of construction management.
- Our expert reports are compliant with appropriate rules such as CIArb, RICS or IBA.
- Expert testimony – provision of testimony by experts with first-hand experience of cross-examination at tribunal under ICC and other institutional rules.
How do Quantum’s Expert Services assist legal teams?
With contractual entitlement issues being commonplace in the construction industry and regularly leading to disputes, Quantum has earned a strong reputation for delivering success through effective partnering and deployment of particular technical expertise. We provide qualified and experienced experts who are focused on positively assisting our clients deliver, through either support with case management, or in the provision of party-appointed expert witnesses.
Based upon a background of support in forensic planning, construction cost control, delay and disruption, Quantum also assists its clients with a range of services including:
- Initial analysis and preliminary advice – reviewing available documentation, statements of claim, defence and providing an initial opinion on liability
- Review of strengths and weaknesses – support with a detailed review of the evidence and party positions, to help inform on strategies for either prosecuting or defending
- Expert reports – provision of expert services and the development of reports on matters of delay, matters of Quantum and matters of construction management.
- Our expert reports are compliant with appropriate rules such as CIArb, RICS or IB
- Expert testimony – provision of testimony by experts with first-hand experience of cross-examination at tribunal under ICC and other institutional
Construction disputes can be extremely technical and complex matters. How does Quantum help to clearly frame any claim or defence to appropriate levels suitable for a tribunal?
Our team of experts draw upon their vast experience to quickly and efficiently identify real issues in dispute, allowing for more productive work with legal teams and leading to the development of more focused and effective submissions.
Through their vast construction experience, our teams are able to distil vast amounts of information and provide the high-level or holistic approach to clearly identify the real issues which are crucial for the law firms to focus on the key points of dispute or contention.
This proactive approach allows us to integrate our services seamlessly into the preparation of the case documents, allowing the client’s legal teams to focus on the legal aspects of strategy and liability, while simultaneously providing technical understanding of the issues at hand.
In addition to our dispute management services, Quantum’s global contractual, commercial and forensic planning consultants provide support services within each jurisdiction. Where appointed as an expert, our team is clear on its duty to the Tribunal and focuses on providing clear informed and impartial advice in line with recommended guidance from authoritative bodies such as the RICS and CIArb.
Construction can be very complicated – how do Quantum get their message across to present their client’s case in a clear and compelling manner?
Every construction project is unique and behind each unexpected issue lies a highly complex and technical story.
It is a fact that 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. As the saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. To leverage this fact, and as part of an array of strategies to deliver early settlement of claims and disputes, one unique method Quantum uses to trigger negotiations and avoid a protracted dispute is through the use of fully animated, multi-media presentations using creative and dynamic multimedia techniques.
Quantum’s in-house media team are specifically dedicated to the preparation of multi-media movies and interactive presentations used to demonstrate construction claim entitlements. As the issues are investigated, a chronology of events unfolds. Quantum’s experts visually interpret these chronological timelines and clarify the order in which events occurred comparing what actually happened versus what was planned to happen and presenting a case for their clients.
When utilised in this way, media is particularly useful for making presentations to employers’ senior management – the key decision makers who do not necessarily have the time to read and digest the large volumes of narrative accompanying many claim submissions.
How does a client prepare a claim movie?
Quantum Digital’s approach to designing the appropriate visual representations means working with our client’s team collaboratively starting with a fact-finding meeting to discuss the issues in dispute and ask questions including the project strengths, weaknesses and key challenges. Telling the story of how unexpected events impacted the overall cost and timeline can then be visually demonstrated through multiple methods from a series of simple PowerPoint slides to multi-faceted visual methods including forensic graphics, illustration and 3d CAD modelling.
Using these techniques, we have successfully handled multiple complex, contentious dispute cases resulting in negotiations and amicable settlements, thus avoiding the need for the parties to follow a formal dispute resolution process.
In our experience, the use of multimedia allows complicated issues to be presented clearly and gets people to talk and resolve construction disputes amicably. The way it used to be… keeping it simple! The success rate of the claim movies, especially in the Middle East, is phenomenal in driving an amicable resolution to disputes or alternatively in clarifying and simplifying complex and highly technical dispute proceedings.
What makes Quantum stand out from the competition in the market?
Over the past decade, Quantum has worked across multiple industry sectors for global clients on projects ranging from small-scale to multi-billion dollar state signature projects across the oil and gas, medical, aviation, civil engineering, marine, rail, construction, highways and expressways, sewage and wastewater, sports and leisure.
We pride ourselves on offering tailor-made solutions to the most difficult of business cases and through a process of continuous research and development, we enhance our processes and procedures to align with current industry standards.
One of our unique services we offer our clients is System Dynamics through our partnership with Construction Dynamics Solutions (CDS), an independent consultancy dedicated to the recovery of disruption and delay costs on construction projects.
Disruption typically accounts for a large fraction of project costs, yet recovering much of it has historically proven to be difficult. Quantum has found the solution: D3A. What is D3A?
Traditional disruption analysis methods cannot establish causation between disruptive events and resulting losses in efficiency or disruption. These methods are also ill-equipped to deal with any disruptive events other than variations i.e. work holds, design deficiencies and discarded design changes.
Regarding delays, traditional analysis tools are unable to deal with the delaying impact of productivity losses and additional rework i.e. disruption, which results in underestimation – leading to shorter extensions of time and higher liquidated damages.
CDS’ system of ‘Dynamic Disruption and Delay Analysis (D3A)’, based upon the System Dynamics simulation methodology, was recently included by the Society of Construction Law in its standard toolset for assessing disruption (Delay and Disruption Protocol, Second Edition 2017).
Based on scientific methodology, D3A overcomes these hurdles by using a comprehensive causal framework that describes how project decisions and project performance are interrelated. CDS simulation models, based upon this framework, unequivocally quantify the disruption and delay caused by any event, and are able to establish in detail the path linking cause and effect.
Because of this, D3A provides our clients with the evidence they need to fully support their claims, both during the course of negotiations and in legal disputes including litigation and arbitration.
System Dynamics has been proven to be the most effective and fully substantiated method to evaluate and present the effects of disruption and has been successfully used in formal disputes where the arbitration panel found the model to be sufficiently compelling to award the full value being claimed by the claimant for disruption.
What are the advantages to the legal profession of D3A?
D3A allows us to significantly improve our clients’ recovery rates on disruption and delay costs on large construction projects. This fact-based approach includes all types of disruptive events, from simple variations to more complex changes, for example, non-contractual applications of commenting and approval processes.
D3A takes into account all significant change events, irrespective of the party responsible for them – this allows it to evade the ‘total claim’ trap, and to account for self-inflicted damages and specifically accounts for the disruption caused by every disruptive event, quantifying it and establishing a clear causal narrative that describes how the disruption came to be.
When describing the relationship you have with your clients, what sets Quantum apart?
First and foremost – we view our clients as our partners. We work hand-in-hand to provide solution-based services, director driven and expertly managed in order to provide the highest-quality tailor-made services to meet specific business objectives in a professional and efficient manner.
We also understand that our Quantum employees are our greatest asset and we focus strongly on the wellbeing of our employees, their families and the wider community in line with our company-wide philosophy and corporate values: vision, excellence, customer-focus, integrity, innovation, solution-based creativity and the Quantum family.
These values are intrinsic in how we do our business, how we become partners with a common goal with our clients, and how we develop the highest standards of employees in our industry through continuous professional development, on-the-job training, and knowledge sharing.
At Quantum being a responsible corporate citizen is something we also take very seriously and we are fully committed to making a positive contribution within the communities in which we live and work. Our ‘Q-munity’ Corporate Social Responsibility (Q-CSR) programme actively aims to add long-term value by supporting our interaction with community groups and our support of health, sporting and educational initiatives.
Quantum firmly believes in sharing our industry knowledge with our clients and peers. Through the Quantum Lecture series, our regional Breakfast Seminars, global conference participation and published article series, we maintain a globally knowledgeable sharing partnership with the construction industry.
Moneer Salah Khalaf – Regional Director MENA – Global Expert
Moneer Saleh Khalaf, Regional Director MENA, is a highly experienced claims specialist with over 25 years of experience in the construction industry and a track record in project delivery in a variety of capacities, including a general contractor, project risk management and dispute resolution consultant.
In his career, Moneer has served as a Project Manager for a top international contractor managing a number of complex projects, including mega building schemes, power plant projects and various renovation schemes.
Moneer has worked in a variety of countries including Tunisia, Greece, Egypt and Qatar. His hands-on experience include cost estimation, budgeting, scheduling, cost control, contract administration, document control, material procurement and overall site management.
As a specialist construction consultant, he has advised law firms, owners, engineers and contractors on construction risk avoidance and mitigation; specifically, best contracting practices, cost and schedule controls, delay and productivity analysis, assessment of design errors and omissions and general litigation support. Moneer has assessed claims, performed delay analyses, quantum assessments and forensic investigations. He has also participated in a number of settlement negotiations both as a principal and as an adviser over the course of his career.
Moneer has an MSc Diploma of Imperial College, Concrete Structures and a BEng (Hons) First Class Degree in Civil Engineering. He is a member of the Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators), (ACIArb), a Member of Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (MAACEI) and a Listed Expert at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
What inspired your journey to where you are today?
During my career, which has spanned over 25 years, I worked as a contractor and employed consultants to prepare claims and provide dispute support for multi-million dollar projects. I was not satisfied with the service that was being offered, so I decided to make the move from contractor to consultant and provide the level of service to my clients that I believe should be delivered. My personal focus is on delivering the highest level of service, developing and training the Quantum team and securing our clients’ positive results.
How do you measure your success?
While we hope our clients do not face repeated issues, success for me is simply receiving a call from a satisfied client to ask for our assistance with a new matter. From working with us, clients learn to call us earlier and mitigate the further escalation of issues on their projects.
Success also means successfully achieving our clients’ goals and receiving positive feedback on the standards of our work, our customer service and our flexibility to help wherever and whenever required.
Do you have a mantra or motto you live by when it comes to helping your clients?
The mantra I live by is to always walk in our client’s’ shoes. No-one begins a project with the expectation that it will end in dispute. It is a stressful time for everyone and I believe our role is to partner with our client – take the emotion out of the issue and deliver the highest quality service while providing innovative tailor-made solutions, professionally and efficiently for each unique client.
At Quantum our mantra is ‘Clarity, Focus, Resolution’. We work to clarify the issues, focus on a solution and reach an amicable resolution.
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