An owner hired an engineering, procurement, and construction contractor to build a petrochemical plant, but the pre-commissioning activities delayed the planned startup by months. Baker & O’Brien reviewed the pre-commissioning activities, the schedule, procedures, and industry practices to provide opinions on the causes of the delay and the responsibilities of the owner and contractor. As part of the arbitration, we produced a technical expert report and several joint expert reports.

A disagreement between an EPC contractor and its subcontractor led to a dispute about the causes and impacts of delays and cost escalation for constructing a combined cycle power plant. We reviewed the project documents, records, and correspondence and compared the significance of the delays in the control narrative deliverables to the overall project delays and schedule milestones. We produced a technical expert report, followed by a joint expert report, and provided oral testimony at the arbitration hearing.

Class action lawsuits against a petrochemical plant and a petroleum refinery alleged that hurricane flooding was exacerbated by ongoing project work and poor coordination between the two integrated facilities. Baker & O’Brien reviewed project plans and execution records to evaluate project management compared to industry best practice, and assessed the working relationship and level of coordination between the facilities. Our expert report provided opinions on project governance and the degree of coordination between the facilities, including the effectiveness of the site’s emergency response plan.