Difference between Claim Specialist and Delay Analyst

I have received a very interesting question about the differences between Claim Specialist and Delay Analyst. Actually, this is very nice question which tells a story as well. In this article i will explain the differences between claim specialist and delay analyst and who could win the battle, lawyer or Engineer?

The story behind construction claims:

When a dispute raised between the contractor and the client, there should be a claim. However, who can prepare this claim? We have two options, a Lawyer or Contract administrator can prepare the construction claim. But in that case the Claim Specialist cannot analyse the delays and calculate how many days to claim. In the other hand, the Engineer can prepare the construction claim. But in that case, the Delay Analyst could not be fully aware about the contractual issues and may not be able to compile the claim into acceptable format!

What happens in real life for construction claims?

In the real life, there are 3 options as follow:

• Both Claim Specialist and Delay Analyst are involved: The Contract administrator will be responsible for the narrative report and the Planning Engineer will prepare the delay analysis. In that case, a very close coordination between Claim Specialist and Delay Analyst should take place.
• Claim Specialist only: In that case, The Claim specialist will learn how to perform delays analysis to be able to develop the claim from A to Z.
• Delay Analyst only: In that case, the delay analyst will learn contract administration to be able to develop the claim narrative and accordingly be fully responsible of the claim.

Which option is better?

In my opinion, the three options are okay. In large scale companies, the two positions are required. Furthermore, it is good to have contract admin with planning knowledge or planner with contract knowledge. Remember, whenever you have a special knowledge like combining contracts and planning, you market value increase.

How to start?

A: If you are a Planning Engineer (Delay Analyst):

You need to study construction claims to be aware of the different types and methodologies of claims. This is an easy task if you studied the correct materials. However, it could be little difficult if you start to study theoretical materials without proper application to the real life projects.

I would recommend for you this course:  Claims Management and Construction Claims (EOT) Course

B: If you are a contract administrator (Claim Specialist):

You need to study and understand the most common software in construction planning Oracle Primavera. I would go further and say you need also to know how to develop a construction time schedule cost and resource loaded to be aware of any program you study in your claims. This is achievable knowledge and easy to learn if you have a good practical course.

I would recommend for you this course: Planning using Primavera Basic Course