PK 66, Pre-K Renovation, Staten Island, NY

PK 66, Pre-K Renovation

Staten Island, NY

The New York School Construction Authority (SCA) contracted with Arnell Construction Corporation (Arnell) to perform the work required to complete a new pre-K renovation project in the amount of $30,624,000. Arnell was issued the Notice-to-Proceed (NTP) on January 5, 2015. According to the Phasing Exhibit, Arnell was required to achieve Substantial Completion within 580 consecutive calendar days of the January 5, 2015 NTP date establishing a Substantial Completion date of August 6, 2016.

Substantial Completion was achieved on September 2, 2016. On December 1, 2016, Arnell issued its Notice of Claim for what it identified as “additional costs incurred as a result of delay and impacts encountered on the PK66 R, 1625 Forest Avenue, Staten Island, New York 10302 project.” Arnell’s claim requested an extension to the Substantial Completion date from August 6, 2016 to September 2, 2016, and additional payment in the amount of $1,529,476.44.1

Arnell’s claim identified 24 impacts in the form of Notices of Direction (NOD), Bulletins, and/or Requests for Information, as well as an impact related to additional costs for steel delivery cancellations, for a total of 25 impact items.

The SCA asked TRAUNER to perform a forensic schedule delay analysis to identify the parties responsible for project delay and produce an expert report describing the findings of the analysis, as Arnell requested additional compensation for acceleration costs to overcome delays that it alleged were the SCA’s responsibility. TRAUNER’s evaluation determined that of Arnell’s 24 alleged claim issues 19 of them were settled by change orders in which Arnell agreed to receive no additional Contract time or monetary compensation. It also noted that Arnell’s TIA did not demonstrate that it was entitled to a time extension for any of the 24 alleged claim issues.