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Capital projects in the power generation, petrochemical, and process industries share many common attributes – EPC and EPCM forms of project delivery and contracting, performance guarantees, complicated equipment interfaces, and intensive in-the-field piping requirements. Contractors participating in these industries are among the world’s largest Engineering and Construction (E&C) firms, and the negotiation of an appropriate contract with these firms can be a major challenge for owner teams.
In these industries, Capital Project Strategies typically works as an integral part of the owner’s project team, interfacing with and, as applicable, reporting to the owner’s procurement department, legal department, and technical representatives. Our primary areas of service involve “front-end” work – such as procurement and contracting advice and contract drafting, as well as advice during project administration. We also provide training services to owners in these industry sectors. Our experience is described in greater detail below.
We assist clients in developing the right project delivery and procurement strategy (e.g., reimbursable, EPC, EPCM, use of multiple contractors managed by a Project Management Consultant, lump sum, etc.), in appropriate risk identification and mitigation, and in drafting and negotiating contracts. Our contract drafting and negotiation experience goes far beyond EPC contracts and includes equipment purchase agreements, construction management contracts, and operations and maintenance contracts. In the power generation sector, we have experience with many different types of fuel sources, including coal, lignite, natural gas, orimulsion, and hydroelectric.
The majority of our front-end services involve assisting the owner's project development teams in drafting and negotiating the design and construction contracts, many of which are EPC forms of contract. We have participated in the drafting and negotiation of contracts with many of the world’s largest E&C firms, including Bechtel, Fluor, Black & Veatch, KBR, Skanska, Technip, and Foster Wheeler. We have also negotiated turbine purchase agreements with most of the major turbine vendors (including General Electric, Siemens Westinghouse, ABB, and Toshiba). Our representative projects are located throughout the United States, as well as around the world, including Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, India, China, and Central America.
We have a broad range of experience in assisting owner teams in assessing and defending claims and disputed change orders. In performing these services, we work closely with all members of the project management team to evaluate the problem and find solutions. If the dispute moves to a more formal setting, we help the team create effective “litigation” or “arbitration” strategies and give our clients unfiltered, “peer review” assessments of where they stand.
In addition to working on project-specific matters, we have substantial experience in providing high-level, “industry-focused” training to clients in the power generation, petrochemical, and process industries. Mike Loulakis is a regular presenter on procurement and contracting issues for Independent Project Analysis (IPA), having participated in several Contracting and Procurement Conferences. He was also a member of the faculty at the BP Project Academy, where he worked in conjunction with professors from MIT to train senior project management on the current contracting environment and claims and change management.
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