Testimonials

Construction Claims Distance Learning Course

Raghupathy Kolachalam

Graduated: April 2017

After being in Project Operations and Management and Contract Administration for many years, I wanted to enhance my knowledge in Construction Claims and I was looking for a recognised distance learning course on construction claims / FIDIC that was practical and in-depth.

I learnt about the Construction Claims Distance Learning Course on the RICS website and it exactly fitted what I was looking for. After a few discussions with Ms. Nina, I enrolled myself and completed my course successfully within a year.

The course content is well structured and is divided into 7 modules and deals with the fundamentals of the claim, takes you through, in simple steps to understand, the various steps involved in presenting a good claim document in a more efficient and professional manner.

The course is well structured and takes you through several real-time case studies with different claims situations and circumstances. It explains how to deal with such conditions and how to think logically to bring about writing an efficient claim document. The course offers not only producing a more simple and effective claim document for a contractor side but also teaches determination and provides responses to a contractors claim as an Engineer.

The real part of the claim is the CEES (Cause, Effect, Entitlement and Substantiation) which is the essence of the course. In fact, CEES is the way forward to every potential claim where one can improve on writing  a more organised way and becoming  an efficient claim specialist in presenting  Claim document  or  determining  in giving Responses in a professional manner.

The course tutor, Mr. Andy, who also designed the course, was just great throughout the learning process. He provides you with clarification and explains where you could have done better in your assignments. The grading sheets are well designed and balanced which leaves no scope to contend your grades. A Fantastic teacher one can have.

I strongly recommend this course to all those who are looking and intending to become more organised, efficient, develop skills and become a professional in presenting good claim document.

David Topping

Graduated: March 2017

I received an email from Construction Claims Class for a 2 day course which I attended in Doha in February 2016. I am currently based in Oman. I then registered for the distance learning course. I successfully completed the course in eleven months.

After more than thirty years post graduate experience in construction working for public authorities in UK, a UK consultant, various international contractors for twenty years and now with an international consultant managing complex construction contracts under the Yellow Book, I wanted to formalize my contracts management experience by gaining a suitable and recognized qualification.

My job requires competency in contract claims administration at the level of the Engineer in the FIDIC contracts. I am required to provide Engineer’s formal Determinations of contractor’s claims.    

Claims Class is very good value for money. It is well administered by the lovely Nina. There is ample online assistance and direct contact with the course administrators if required. I only needed to seek clarification on what was required for the assignments twice throughout the seven modules.

Andy Hewitt is a tough tutor and examiner. This is a benefit because it instills the discipline which is essential to successfully administer claims. He is also direct and clear in his communications, just as he expects the written assignments to be. His book which is essential reading for the course is clear and provides practical examples and step by step guidance.

I have no hesitation recommending Claims Class and their Distance Learning Course to anyone in a similar position seeking to further their knowledge and capability in this discipline.

Joy Varghese

Graduated: February 2017

I came across this course through the RICS website when I was looking for a book on claims preparation for the Subcontractor on a project I was working on in the UAE. I found Andy Hewitt’s book, Construction Claims & Responses, and it gave me good understanding of how to prepare a claim document. I then found out that Andy was running a distance learning course on the same topic.

I enrolled on the Construction Claims Distance Learning Course over a year ago. The course contains seven modules and deals with the fundamentals of a claim document. The course content is simple to understand and explains the various steps involved in presenting a claim document in a professional manner.

The course is well structured, takes you through several case studies with different real situations and clearly explains as to how to deal with each situation. The case studies also deal with both Contractor’s claims and determination by the Engineer from the Employer’s perspective.

I liked how Andy explains cause, effect, entitlement and substantiation under the acronym of CEES and the checklist at the end of each chapter which I will not forget. Andy’s tutor feedback [on my assignments] was very prompt and explained the flaws in my presentation. His comments helped me to better understand and present the claim in a more professional manner.

I strongly recommend this course for all those who wish to deal with and present claims in a professional manner and for those who wish to enhance their career as a claims practitioner. I recommend that more students join this invaluable course!!!

David Kinlan

Graduated: October 2016

I came across Andy Hewitt’s first edition book a few years ago when I needed to draft a contamination claim and I found the book invaluable as a guide to how to set out a claim in a clear and structured manner, the CEES abbreviation being my mantra on that claim. Only recently did I become aware that Andy ran a distance learning course so I thought it would be good to brush up on my claim writing skills and fill in on my knowledge gaps in good claim preparation.

I liked the structured approach of each Module of Claims Class as each Module dove-tailed onto the following one. I progressed quite rapidly but this was the pace I set for myself and it worked for me.

The Case Studies are well formulated and generally I only needed to touch base with the tutor for clarification on an area of building knowledge that I was unfamiliar with, Andy’s response was always rapid and put me back on track quickly.

I really enjoyed the Cause and Effect Module as this goes to the very basis of how to establish a claim. The final Module was preparation of an entire Extension of Time claim and by the time I got this far I was able to draft a reasonable response document.

The assignments taught me to try to draft a claim or response document in a clear and structured manner, more is not always better. I have put this into practice in drafting letters as well which works well. To summarise, I would recommend the Claims Class to anyone who wants to learn the skills to draft a good claim document.

Kayvan Bahraini

Graduated: August 2016

I was looking for a practical course to improve my knowledge of the management of claims. I did not want to enroll for a 2-day seminar as I knew I would learn much more from doing practical course work and assignments. The format of Claims Class was exactly what I wanted and the outcome has actually been better than I expected.

The course materials including the book and assignments are clear and there is generally no need for a tutor to take you through everything. When I did have queries, they were responded to very quickly and the phone conversations with Andy were really helpful.

I really enjoyed Module 7 and Module 1 in particular. Module 1 is related to writing a claim management procedure which was what I needed to do for my work anyway and Module 7 was preparation of a full claim for Extension of Time.

In terms of challenges, I would say one of the key issues that I faced was how to write an assignment response in a clear, simple and structured manner. This is something that is emphasised on the course as a well written and presented claim document will make things easier for the reviewer. Through working on this, I believe I really improved my writing skills throughout the course.   

The course is very practical and almost all the aspects of the course can be applied in practice. At the end of the course I had gained much more knowledge of how to manage claims and I also gained respect from my colleagues as someone with good knowledge of claims.

Alan Wakim

Graduated: May 2016

I enrolled on the Construction Claims Distance Learning Course over a year ago after having completed a Masters in Quantity Surveying and a Bachelor in Civil Engineering. Having worked in the construction industry for approximately 4 years, I had the urge to further my knowledge in the construction claims field, as it was clear to me that the proper management and administration of claims would ultimately contribute to the overall outcome of a project’s standing in terms of claimed costs and affected schedule.

Prior to signing up, I attended the 2-Day Construction Claims Intensive Training Course in London and it was evident that I would gain substantial knowledge from pursuing the distance learning course. Having now successfully completed the course, I can undoubtedly say that it has exceeded my expectations.

Through a series of case studies, the modules provide a practical experience which bridge the gap between the knowledge attained from university programmes and the common contractual tasks in the construction industry. What I found most informative was the feedback from my tutor upon completion of each module. 

The course is well structured and well delivered, the modules compel you to consider both the Contractor’s and the Engineer’s perspective on the claimed issues and therefore force you to question your current approach in terms of claim entitlement.  

All in all, I found this course extremely informative and would highly recommend it to any individual who seeks to deeply understand the claims practice in the construction industry.

Thank you Claims Class for the great experience!

Peter Burford

Graduated: May 2016

When I enrolled on the Claims Class Distance Learning Course, I was approaching 10 years of experience. During that time, I had dealt with claims on both sides of the fence, with a reasonable degree of success, so I was by no means a novice. 

So why did I enroll on the Distance Learning Course? I have seen claims presented in all shapes and sizes, good and bad.  I too have been guilty of structuring claims or responses in different ways, simply because I was unaware of a tried and tested method.  Knowing that this was something that I could improve on, I went in search of the answer and stumbled across the core text for the course: Construction Claims & Responses – effective writing & presentation, which goes through the preparation of a claim from A to Z in minute detail. I was that satisfied with the book that I decided to enroll on the Distance Learning Course.  

The course consists of seven modules which are cleverly structured so that what I learned during the early modules was subtly put into practice in subsequent modules. This helped to reaffirm the knowledge and techniques learned previously; but in no way did the course feel repetitive. The course is predominantly based on case studies which I could relate my own experiences to. Therefore, as a by-product of completing the course, it certainly got me thinking about how I could have managed situations from my own working life more effectively.

A brief word about my tutor Andy Hewitt.  With almost 40 years of experience under his belt, it is fair to say that he knows his stuff inside out. But equally as important, he’s a natural teacher and has a knack of explaining the course content succinctly.

It is worth noting that Claims Class allows you to defer the issue for each module for as long as you wish.  I took advantage of this on two occasions, so much so that I hold the unwanted record for taking the longest to complete the course.  The point is, I was able to fit the course around my life and not the other way around.

Claims Class states: “…on completion of the course, you will have gained a thorough understanding of construction claims and how to confidently present or respond to them in an effective manner.”  This is certainly true in my case and I am in no doubt that any claims or responses that I produce after this course will be a significant improvement on what I did beforehand.