EPC Disputes Advisory

When a project ends up in arbitration, the schedule becomes evidence. EPC Disputes Advisory analyses what really drove the delay, quantifies its effect, and presents it clearly to tribunals, counsel and the parties.

Services

• Forensic delay analysis using AACE International Recommended Practice 29R-03 methods
• Schedule quality assessment (DCMA 14-point)
• Extension of time and disruption claims
• Expert witness reports and testimony
• Claim avoidance and schedule review during execution

Forensic methods we apply

Claims are won on contemporaneous records and defensible schedule logic. We match the method to the facts and the forum: windows analysis, time impact analysis, collapsed as-built, as-planned vs as-built, DCMA 14-point assessment and Monte Carlo schedule risk analysis.

How an engagement runs

1. Enquiry and NDA: confidential first contact under a signed mutual NDA.
2. Scoping call: a 60-minute expert consultation to frame the dispute.
3. Data and baseline: review of the contract, baseline, schedule updates and project records.
4. Forensic analysis: the method matched to the facts and the forum.
5. Report and testimony: expert report, support to counsel, and the hearing.

Technology-enabled, expert-verified

Disputes involve thousands of documents and many schedule versions. We use AI-assisted record review and automated schedule diagnostics to build event chronologies faster, so expert time goes into judgement rather than searching. AI never replaces expert opinion: every finding is traced to source documents and verified by the expert, and client material is handled only in secure, agreed environments under NDA.

Who we work with

Owners, EPC contractors, lenders and law firms on oil & gas, LNG, petrochemical, refining, power, pipeline and infrastructure projects.

Flagship engagements

• Chevron Pascagoula Base Oil Refinery, USA (US$1.4B): time impact analyses on major delay events separated owner changes from contractor inefficiency and informed the defence of incoming claims (delivered under Bechtel).
• OQ Oman Strategic Fuel Reserve (US$1.3B): Project Director and Head of Project Controls, leading a 67-person controls team across five countries.
• GAIL Pata Petrochemical Complex, India (US$304M): 65 days of critical-path float protected, about US$1.25M of contractor claims resolved or avoided, and schedule and cost variance held to 1.3%.
• Reliance Jamnagar Refinery: a 7-year build compressed to 3.5 years, with delay recovered from 6 months to 25 days.

Credentials

Led by Sumer Jain: Chartered Engineer (India), AACE Certified Cost Professional, EVMS certified and Certified Expert Witness, with around 30 years in EPC project controls. Member of CIArb, SCL, SIArb, AIAC, HKIAC and FIDIC.

Read our article on why disputed EPC schedules fail the DCMA 14-point check.