Fisher Maritime

The Port Engineer's & Owner's Representative's Course

Course Outline

Some topics which you may expect to be covered during the Port Engineer's & Owner's Representative's Course include the following:

DAY 1: Preparation of Specifications for Ship Repair, Conversion, and Construction

Defining the scope of work	Technical documentation requirements
Identifying the required type of specification	Common problems with specifications
Shipyard schedule & updates for workscope	Content/form of owner-furnished equipment
Support services provided by the contractor	Delivery of owner-furnished equipment
Environmentally-related services	Integration of owner-furnished equipment
Contractor's engineering and design responsibilities	Condition reports for open & inspect items
Identification of interferences	Orders to proceed based on condition reports
Review of contractor's sketches & drawings	Identifying necessary tests & trials
Third-party approvals and inspections	System and compartment close-outs
Use of "optional" & "conditional" work items	Disposal of hazardous & toxic materials
Most-probable vs. most-definite workscope	Work performed by the ship's crew & vendor
Identification of entire workscope for items	Review of the contractor's equipment selections
Use of vendor's representatives	Facilities & services for the owner's representatives
Shipyard estimates of hours & materials	Bid or pre-negotiated rates for services

DAY 2: Applying Principles of Contract Management to Daily Project Tasks

Foundation for success is in the workscope definition	Engineering responsibilities, drawing approvals
Contractor's obligation to ship check	Managing classification and CG items
Significance of pre-contract communications	Managing OFE commitments
Cancellation of basic workscope items	Programmed vs. random inspections
Responsibility to identify interferences	Documenting the shipyard's deficient work
Rules of precedence between documents	Standards for approvals and rejections
When regulations have precedence	Progress payments and approval of them
Identifying hazardous materials on the ship	Reacting to shipyard's failure to achieve commitments
Disposal of hazardous materials	When the owner fails to fulfill contract commitments
Agenda items for project's kick-off meeting	Avoiding litigation threshold if disputes arise
Transfer of custody and control of the ship	Dealing with force majeure & vendor delays
Identification of all of the port engineer's responsibilities	Measuring the shipyard's and your performance
Advance development of the port engineer's spreadsheets	Withholding payments for incomplete work
Monitoring schedule commitments	Credits for deleted work upon vessel delivery
Vessel delivery with agreed-upon disputes	Managing warranty issues, retainage funds

DAY 3: Shipyard Change Order Negotiation, Pricing, and Scheduling

Examples of successful and other changes	Credits for canceled basic work items
How timing affects the cost of changes	Shipyard's vs. ship owner's estimates
Identification of real change in workscope	Overhead costs in changes
Change work as a substitute for basic work	Putting advance limits on negotiations
Dealing with contractor-suggested changes	Choosing a negotiator or negotiating team
Avoiding constructive change orders	Identifying & neutralizing negotiating tactics
Multi-level change order authorization	Lead times and durations for change work
Engineering & procurement for changes	Identifying schedule impacts of changes
Identification of all involved crafts	Determining delay entitlement for changes
Support services necessary for change work	Getting change work on a competitive basis
Obtaining advance pricing commitments	The shipyard's perspective on indirect costs
Limiting direct-billing crafts for changes	When to allow indirect effects in pricing
Identifying the non-obvious scope of work	Avoiding letting OFE/GFE commitments cause a change
Credits when changes replace basic work	Identifying when a change is mandatory
Using the changes clause to your advantage	Use of THE CHECK LIST before making commitments