Claims Documentation Skill

Overview

The claims-documentation skill provides construction superintendents and project managers with a systematic framework for building defensible claim records through contemporaneous documentation. The difference between winning and losing a construction claim is almost always documentation quality. Merits matter, but without proper records, even the strongest claim fails.

This skill ensures field teams create claims-grade records from day one -- not after a dispute arises. Retroactive documentation is always weaker than contemporaneous evidence. Courts, arbitrators, and mediators consistently give greater weight to records created at or near the time of the event than to after-the-fact reconstructions, no matter how detailed.

Core principle: Document everything as if you will need it in a dispute, even when the project is going smoothly. The cost of over-documenting is trivial compared to the cost of an unsupported claim or an indefensible position.