Of course, each surety consulting project comes with its own set of construction, engineering, business, personality and bond/legal complexities. Minimizing losses, reducing exposures and expediting the process starts with helping clients understand precisely what went wrong and how to best remedy the situation. We do this by simultaneously leveraging deep technical knowledge and nearly 30 years’ surety claims investigations experience. In this particular case, Guardian Group, Inc.’s client found itself, quite literally “up a creek.” To our client’s great relief, the seasoned experts who comprise our Surety Group brought the much-needed paddle.
This Army Corps of Engineers project involved a steel arch culvert repair, constructed beneath a highway and through a creek. The obligee on this file had already terminated the contractor for failure to perform the work, and the contractor subsequently went out of business, filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection. Aware of Guardian’s Surety Group experience resolving complex claims, as well as with assessing and rectifying underground engineering projects, our surety client knew time was of the essence and dispatched our experts to the scene immediately.
The project was seriously behind schedule. One interesting surety claim investigation wrinkle: the environmentally sensitive nature of the creek. The creek played home to an endangered species, the Bog Turtle. The work had to be completed to allow water to flow through the culvert to protect the Bog Turtle and its habitat. There were only 60 days to complete the work and, if the work wasn’t completed according to that compressed schedule, the project site would have flooded, thereby washing out all of the previous work.
Guardian collaborated with the obligee to identify and procure a qualified completion contractor with the requisite experience and skill to perform the work. Our experts maintained a daily, on-site presence so as to work hand-in-hand with the completion contractor and the obligee in resolving site conditions and to continually develop the creative solutions necessary in order to march the project forward. Our active presence on the site mitigated the usual time to resolve engineering issues and ensure that the obligee understood that certain change orders and design changes were necessary due to the complexity of the scope of work.
With Guardian’s engineers’ assistance, the project was completed in a timely manner, avoiding the potential loss of the site which would have resulted in a full penal bond loss close to half a million dollars. Guardian’s engineering know-how, inclusive of considerable experience with both environmental issues and working under adverse conditions, was paramount to a successful outcome and the avoidance of a large loss.
When you find yourself up a surety creek, literally or figuratively, count on the one surety consultant who consistently delivers what leading sureties need most: efficiency, experience and expedience. Call on your friends at Guardian Group, Inc. today.