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ABOUT THE CLAIM
The Guardian & YA Group Surety Team received an urgent call from one of its longstanding clients. The obligee on the $1.5MM bonded project was a municipal waterworks district, and the covered project was the installation of waterlines and valve train assemblies which would transport chemically pretreated water from a lake reservoir to a nearby water treatment facility. Their principal had already been defaulted by the obligee and the surety needed to know exactly what happened, how much work remained, and the best way to proceed in order to minimize its losses and limit its exposures.
ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION
Engineers from the Surety Team immediately deployed to the reservoir to both review construction drawings and specs and to assess the status of the project. As is a common occurrence in surety claims, the principal had bitten off more than he could chew. The work demonstrated he knew little about valve train assemblies and it was also woefully incomplete. Further signs he had been suffering financially were evidenced in his books. It quickly became apparent he had underbid the job, perhaps as a means to “solve” his cashflow problems.
ABOUT THE RESOLUTION
The recommended course of action was a project takeover wherein the Guardian/YA Group Surety Team would manage the work of a specialized completion contractor. The surety concurred and the experts set about identifying and obtaining bids from a select pool of bidders. In addition to all of the other project problems, it turned out the principal had used the wrong type of seals on the valve system. Since the water was chemically pre-treated, these seals would not hold – which is precisely why Viton seals had been specified in the original bid documents. Working together, Guardian/YA Group and the completion contractor completed the project according to specifications while averting a surety bond disaster and still managing to finish the project on time.
ABOUT GUARDIAN & YA GROUP
Efficient surety claim resolution depends upon deep construction/engineering knowledge and extensive surety claims experience. That’s why the industry has no better ally, resource, and collaborator than Guardian and YA Group. This unparalleled team has helped sureties resolve all types of claims expediently and cost-effectively for over 30 years. The expert support provided includes everything from investigations and guidance on small and everyday contract and commercial claims and all the way up to technical claim consultations and takeovers on some of the world’s largest, most problem-fraught construction. Today, clients who engage Guardian and YA Group’s Surety Team can also leverage the skills of almost 700 engineers, building consultants, and others who are strategically located throughout the U.S. For all of your surety claim challenges, kindly reach out today.