Construction and Engineering

For more than four decades, our teams have been anticipating, investigating and resolving the challenges and problems that arise in construction and engineering worldwide.

Not only are major construction and engineering projects inherently complex, they also have to be delivered against a rising tide of uncertainties. Cost inflation, supply chain disruption, skills shortages and technological change must be managed while weighing political, funding, climate and other risks.

For more than four decades, our teams have been anticipating, investigating and resolving the challenges and problems arising on capital projects and infrastructure worldwide. (HKA also analyses and reports on the underlying causes of claims and disputes – see CRUX below.)

This unmatched experience and a comprehensive skillset – spanning technical, project, legal and digital disciplines – sets us apart as a global consultancy focussing on risk mitigation, dispute resolution, expert witness, and litigation support services.

How we help

Whatever your sector or project – buildings or transportation infrastructure, industrial or manufacturing plant, resource extraction or power and utilities – the risks are many and multiplying.

We help you decode this growing complexity to achieve the best outcomes possible by resolving disputes, managing claims, and providing strategic advice:

• Dispute resolution: HKA employs many of the world’s most foremost experts in disciplines ranging from construction delay and disruption analysis, and quantum, to damages assessors. Our experts act as witnesses, advisers, and in arbitration, adjudication, or alternative pathways to dispute resolution.
• Claims consultancy: HKA is the world’s largest and most experienced claims management practice. Our consultants – most of whom are construction professionals dual-qualified in law – have dealt with every type of construction and engineering project, analysing contractual liability and causation, and quantifying the effects, in pursuit and defence of claims.
• Advisory services: Our incisive support at critical stages in the asset development or investment lifecycle – and at every level, from project to enterprise – achieves greater certainty and clarity for our clients. Grounded in expert analysis and problem-solving on past projects, our people understand what goes wrong, and how to set up organisations and projects to succeed.
• Construction expert witness services: Our expert witnesses have experience in all areas of construction. We can help with a range of claims, by working with you to analyse the details and provide solutions on complex issues. We offer analysis, advice and support throughout all stages of a construction project.

Why HKA?

In the global construction marketplace, HKA is consistently ranked the pre-eminent consultancy with more commended experts than any other firm.

Our teams can draw on expert technical knowledge in every aspect of construction and relevant specialisms – from civil to process engineering, structures to geology, mechanical to metallurgy.

Their analytical skills have been honed on a diverse range of projects, including some of the most high-profile and complex megaprojects in the world across all sectors.

• Buildings: Including iconic structures such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, our buildings experience spans commercial and residential, education and healthcare facilities, hotels and retail.
• Transportation: Our teams have supported various types of transportation infrastructure from airports to seaports, highways to bridges and tunnels, and bus networks to rail, including notable high-speed rail projects such as HS2 in the UK and Saudi Arabia’s Haramain.
• Industrial: HKA has advised on industrial and manufacturing projects in just about every sector, including automotive, aerospace, food and drink, electrical and electronics, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, rolling stock, shipbuilding and marine.
• Oil and Gas: Our track record is punctuated by pioneering energy developments – from Kazakhstan’s Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Gorgon LNG plant on Western Australia’s Barrow Island – as well as refineries and terminals, renewables, petrochemicals, and pipelines.

We apply lessons learned and international best practice to ensure that capital projects are delivered more effectively. From our global network, HKA can assemble a multi-disciplinary team of leading experts and problem-solvers with the skills and experience needed to help you navigate the construction and engineering industry’s risks and challenges.

Who we help

We work with owners and employers, contractors, specialist subcontractors, international law firms, and government agencies, applying our knowledge and unrivalled expertise to deliver exceptional services.

Clients also benefit – along with the wider industry – from our CRUX integrated research programme.  HKA’s unique and expanding dataset identifies the underlying causes of claims and disputes on projects worldwide.

On behalf of clients, we can use this intelligence to – among other things – benchmark performance, calibrate risk in target markets, regions or sectors, compare procurement options, or evaluate dispute resolution methods.

Each year we publish a summary CRUX Insight distilling the lessons for a wider audience. Our Fifth Annual CRUX Insight Report covered investigations (up to the end of July 2022) of more than 1,600 projects in 100 countries, with a combined capital expenditure of over US$2.1 trillion. The toll in lost time and money was colossal. Disputed costs on these projects exceeded $80 billion – averaging more than 35% of capital expenditure. Extensions of time would typically protract programmes by 68.6%.

We are keen to disseminate the lessons from CRUX widely, not least via our CRUX Interactive Dashboard.