How the 21 days run

A senior construction executive reviews the record, interviews the people who lived the dispute, and delivers a written evaluation with draft change orders. The project keeps building the whole time.

Parties call us when they see:

  • Schedule impacts becoming visible

  • Communication breaking down

  • Change orders piling up

  • RFIs going unanswered

  • Stop notices, mechanics liens, or bond claims emerging

  • Performance or payment bond demands


Any one of these on an active project is reason enough for the call. In every case the window for intervention is still open: physical evidence is intact, documentation systems are running, participants are still on the job, and memories are fresh.

  • A mutual NDA is signed before any project specifics are shared. An intake call follows, then a qualification review. Where the fit is not there, we say so and, where appropriate, refer you to a better path.

    If the project qualifies, the firm runs a conflict check and proposes candidate Neutrals with documented rationale for each. The proposal states scope, fixed fee, timeline, and a document request customized to your project.

    The document request goes out tailored to each party; the general contractor receives a different list than the owner.

  • Documents arrive into a segregated, access-controlled workspace and are indexed, classified, and analyzed: the contract set, schedules and updates, RFI and submittal logs, cost reports, correspondence. The analysis is assembled into a Briefing Book your Neutral can absorb in hours rather than weeks.

    The week ends with the Neutral's FIRAC worksheet, a one- to two-page case summary structured as Facts, Issues, Rules, Analysis, and Conclusion. It is the working hypothesis Week 2 will test.

  • Your Neutral conducts five to ten structured interviews with stakeholders and witnesses. Before each one, three things are confirmed in writing: non-attribution, so positions appear in the report and names never do; recording consent; and each interviewee's right to consult management or counsel. Early interviews establish the factual foundation; later interviews test specific theories. We ask of you scheduling cooperation and roughly an hour per interviewee.

  • The findings are captured in analytical sessions with the Project Neutral®, issue by issue: entitlement, quantum, causation, likely outcome in formal proceedings, recommended commercial resolution. On Day 21 the evaluation is delivered. If you desire, your Project Neutral® can walk all parties through the findings on a delivery call, draft change orders in hand.