Most construction claims give short shrift to damages and focus on entitlement, despite the fact that the ultimate goal of any construction claim is recovering monetary damages.Our approach is different. When we prepare or defend damages claims, we utilize actual cost data whenever possible. While we utilize academic studies of labor productivity and similar empirical studies, we use these to validate actual costs rather than as a primary method of damage calculation whenever possible. We focus on cost and cost reports, labor reports, variances from the anticipated or budgeted amounts and the reasons for those variances. As a result, we are able to accurately determine direct and indirect damages, including damages for productivity loss, increased duration, extended overhead and various other direct and indirect damages. Focusing on the costs helps focus our analysis on the issues that matter.Because the number of documents produced in construction cases can be staggering, this approach reduces what is often a tedious, drawn-out process. By focusing our analysis from the start, we don’t waste time or our client’s money sifting through useless and irrelevant documents.Bill Schwartzkopf, CEO of Sage Consulting, is the author of Calculating Construction Damages and Calculating Lost Labor Productivity in Construction Claims, two leading treatises in the industry intended for use by lawyers, contractors, consultants and other people who are involved in construction claims.