Andtec Consulting

Who we are

We work since 2017 helping and supporting our clients to secure project profit on their complex projects in the engineering and construction industry.

Clients

Our clients are owners, contractors, subcontractors, vendors and project developers in the Oil & Gas, Power, LNG, Petrochemical, Renewables energy (PV, CSP, Wind on&off shore, Biomass) Cement, Infrastructures, Railway manufacturing, Pipelines, Piping fabrication, Process Plants, Equipment manufacturing and off shore and shipbuilding industry.

Methodology

We work with your project teams – who know far more about their project than we ever will – to leverage that knowledge and together, with our experience in our area of expertise, create strategies to find pragmatic solutions for the challenges your team faces and help you deliver profitable projects.

Challenges

All projects face challenges - we know it, we´ve been there. It’s how we deal with risk, contracts, change, conflict, delays and disruption, loss of productivity, claims etc that determine whether projects deliver the typically narrow margins for a contractor – or whether the project is executed in the most capital efficient way for the asset owner. Our consultancy practice takes a pragmatic, results-oriented approach to handle all these commercial and contractual challenges, address conflict, and generate opportunities for negotiated settlements avoiding formal disputes. And during the process supporting your team so they can develop their capability for successful project delivery.

Mission

Our mission is to strength our client´s ability to protect their rights and interests and to reach negotiated settlements avoiding formal disputes– we do not believe that ending up in formal dispute ( Arbitration, Litigation) is good for any project party. But we recognize that these are sometimes unavoidable – and we can support our clients at these difficult times.

Kingsfield Academy

Kingsfield Academy is the leading training provider of Contract & Claims training and related commercially critical project management disciplines in the engineering and construction industry. Under Kingsfield Academy license we provide training in contracts, contract management and change & claim management.

Services: Contract Management

Project Contract & Claim Management advice & support

continuous support, advice and coaching to you project team and directorate. A small monthly fixed fee with high added value for your projects. We will provide support and advice on contract management and changes & claim management during the performance of the Project and with the objective to:

enhance the ability to protect the project budget through effective management, in accordance with the contracts terms, of all events arising during the project.
make the necessary contract price and time adjustments and or amendments to the contracts in accordance with the rights and obligations established in the contract as they occur during execution as well as ensure that your Organization doesn´t over pay
hold other parties responsible for their obligations and commitments and resolve disagreements and conflicts as they arise , maintaining a collaborative project environment and avoiding Arbitration and Litigation.

Corporate Contract and Change & Claim Management advice& support

in addition to project advice and support:

during bidding and contracting phase we assist in addressing key project non technical risk at a time when they can be dealt with most effectively – prior to
Develop and improve best practice procedures in contracts management and change and claims management.

Planing for profit workshop

carried out at the beginning of the project to aware the team about the main non technical risks and plan to successfully deliver a profitable project. We facilitate workshops – for the project management team with emphasis on strategic scenario planning, and with focus on commercial and contractual risks and awareness.

Interim contract management

deployment of a senior contract manager to your team to cover a temporary need or to for a long term assignment. The Contract Manager will ensure a proper administration and management of the contract and changes and contribute to protect the project margin.

Project diagnosis

an independent assessment of a project’s health to identify the risks and the opportunities from a commercial / contractual point of view to protect the project margin and strategic options and action plan to : increase contract price, entitlement to schedule adjustment, avoid delay damages, avoid subcontractor claims, develop counter claims, avoid overpaing ,…. And a strategy to an effective contractual & commercial project management until project completion.

Recruitment

we search for you the best contracts, claims and project control professionals

Services: Claims Management & Dispute Avoidance

Case appraisal

an independent analysis of your case (claim made or under preparation, or claim defense). We challenge your claim to identify its weaknesses and strengths and identify risks and opportunities related directly and indirectly to the case and that strengthen or weaken your position, and recommended strategy and actions to improve the case and with the goal of reaching the best possible amicable agreement.

Claim strategies

We review the project issues and quickly provide advice on the best strategy and action plan to recover time and cost overruns for which you are entitled or defend a claim received. We analyse the causes that make things happening different than planned, the responsibility that each party has regarding these causes and related events and the liability of each party in terms of the effect and impact of these events in order to have a valid and good case. From our experience we know that delays, cost overruns etc. are usually the result of one or both parties not doing what they were supposed to do under the contract and either one or both parties not managing the circumstances effectively – therefore project management performance by both parties invariably features in our analysis of cause and impact.

Claim preparation

Once the case is defined and the claim strategy is agreed we work together with your team to prepare a claim, or defend your claims for extension of time and costs ( project prolongation, acceleration, scope change and their cumulative impact , disruption and losss of productivity,..etc), ensuring the impact to the project is properly assessed and in accordance with the entitlements under the contract and providing proper evidence to support the case, and telling a good and credible story. This will allow the other party to understand the case it has to deal with, facilitate a negotiation environment and increase the chances to reach agreements during the execution of a project and thus avoid the formal procedures for resolution of disputes, whenever possible.

Project negotiation & Dispute avoidance

strategic advise to create alternatives to resolve conflict and avoid formal dispute resolution procedures (Arbitration, Litigation,..)

Critical interventions & negotiation strategies

advise and support to prepare critical negotiations and support during negotiations

Schedule Delay Analysis

to request or claim for an extension of time and avoid liquidated delay damages, or for an acceleration plan. We look at all the events delaying the project attributable to both parties and taking into consideration mitigation measures, recovery, acceleration agreed or constructive as well as concurrent delay and its effect on the entitlement to extensión of time and prolongation costs.

Services: Dispute Resolution & Independent Expert Support

We act as independent experts supporting parties and their legal counsel in formal dispute resolution proceedings, including arbitration and litigation. Our role is to provide clear, objective and technically robust expert evidence, focused on assisting tribunals and decision-makers in understanding what actually occurred on the project.

We provide independent expert support to assist project teams and legal counsel in telling the project story from beginning to end, ultimately in a formal Expert Report and, where required, through expert testimony at a hearing. Our expertise covers project management, forensic schedule delay analysis and forensic quantum analysis, including the assessment of entitlement and the independent quantification of delay and damages (cost, loss and expense, disruption/inefficiency, prolongation and overheads), supported by contemporaneous records and recognised industry methodologies.

Our expert services aim to:

Inform our client's legal team of the relevant facts, project context and circumstances.
Present a clear, coherent and evidence-based narrative to assist the tribunal or decision-maker in understanding what actually occurred on the project.
Demonstrate, where applicable, through a balanced and technically robust assessment, that our client has been adversely affected and is entitled to relief.

Expert determination & reports

Expert witness & testimony

Kingsfield Academy

Fernando Falcon, Andtec founding partner, believes in learning and coaching as the basis for professional development. Fernando is associate of Kingsfield Academy and supports the development of other project management professionals in the engineering and construction industry for the development of commercially critical project management disciplines

Kinsgfield Academy in the UK, www.kingsfieldacademy.com, has 40 years experience supporting organizations worlwide in the engineering and construction projects industry. In 2017 Kingsfield,s chairman, John Fotherby, was appointed chairman of the ECI (European Construction Institute).

Kingsfield Academy delivers training and learning programs, to organizations in contract and claim management, commercial and contract risks, contracting, leadership and stakeholder management,

Kingsfield Academy is an approved training provider for the UK Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), registered education provider with the Construction Industry Institute based at the University of Texas in Austin (CII) and approved international provider for the International Centre for Complex Project Management

Our training designs and workshops are very interactive and participative and involve problem-solving, industry case studies and discussion & work in groups. This approach taps into the experience delegates already bring to the workshop and helps ensure their engagement in the learning content to achieve agreed outcomes.

These are some of our courses:

Contract & Claim management for project professionals

Lack of understanding of contractual obligations together with poorly drafted and unsubstantiated claims is consistently shown to be the primary causes of legal disputes on projects. This 2 days course focuses on the management of major change & claims in the context of scope, risk, contract, time management, the difference between change and claim, total impact of a change, different legal forms of a claim and claim types as key project management discipline to deliver profitable projects. The target group is project managers, corporate managers and project management team members (engineering, construction, procurement, project control, contract management, ..)

Delay & Disruption Claims

Delay, disruption and loss of productivity can severely impact project results. This 1.5 days course focuses on essential contractual elements and provisions and their implication for the management of delay & disruption and its impact recovery.

Commercial Awareness

1 day course to build commercial awareness throughout your project teams with less experience in management of projects and focused to understand the basics of projects and contracts to successfully deliver a profitable project.

Contract management program

A full programme to understand a contract and how to effectively administer and manage it. As an option we can develop a contract maangement manual tailored to your organization The duration of the program shall be mutually defined according to the final content agreed.

On the job

and tailored training, we can design workshops training based on a particular project delivered or on going and develop case studies based on your project cases.

Contracts for engineers

1 day course which covers all the essentials that engineers must know about contracts: what is a contract?, Key contract terms, risk allocation in contracts, common areas of conflict and dispute resolution.

Claims negotiations

Following the submission of a claim or defence, the effective resolution of the matter frequently depends on structured and well-prepared negotiations. This 1.5-day course focuses on providing participants with practical tools to negotiate claims in a controlled and effective manner, with the objective of safeguarding project margins and commercial outcomes.

Founding Partner

Fernando Falcon

fernandofal@andtec.net

Fernando has over 30 years' experience in international engineering and construction projects across the oil & gas, power, LNG, renewable energy, industrial and infrastructure sectors, having participated in major projects across the Middle East, Europe, the Americas and Asia.

He has held senior positions including Project Manager, Contracts & Claims Manager, Contracts & Claims Director and Managing Director, and has extensive experience acting as quantum expert, lead forensic delay analysis expert and independent expert witness in arbitration and dispute resolution proceedings. His work includes the preparation and defence of complex claims, as well as the assessment of entitlement, delay and damages.

Fernando has worked with leading international contractors and engineering companies, including Grupo Dragados, Sener and Tecnicas Reunidas.

Since 2017, Fernando has been practising as an independent consultant, initially in collaboration with Kingsfield Consulting International (2017-2019) and, since 2019, exclusively through ANDTEC Consulting. His work focuses on contracts and claims management, dispute avoidance and negotiated settlements, and acting as Independent Expert Witness in arbitration proceedings. He is also an associate trainer with Kingsfield Academy, delivering professional training programmes in contracts and claims for the engineering and construction industry.

Arbitration Experience

Acting as Quantum Expert and lead forensic delay analysis expert in complex construction disputes.
Acting as Independent Expert / Expert Witness in arbitration and legal dispute resolution proceedings, providing independent delay and quantum opinions, including prolongation costs, disruption, productivity loss and damages.

Qualifications:

Naval and Marine Engineering, Universidad Politecnica Madrid (Spain)
Executive MBA, IE Business School (Spain)
Global Executive Management development program, Euroforum (Spain)
Mediator, accredited by the Spanish Ministry of Justice - specialist in international business

Professional Memberships

Society of Construction Law (SCL), UK
Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), US

Special Interests & Experience:

Is passionate about working in complex projects applying his analytical, strategic and creative skills to solve problems and reach negotiated settlements to protect the profitable delivery of projects.
Understands the problems that Owners, EPC Contractors, Subcontractors and Vendors are facing in international environments and is highly motivated to help finding solutions and achieve amicable settlements avoiding formal disputes (arbitration, litigation) for complex projects and or in distress.
Fernando believes in learning and coaching as basis for professional development and as associate trainer of Kingsfield Academy supports the development of other project professionals.
Lecturer: PMI, Charter of Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers, and Deusto University, in Spain.