“Statistics Canada estimates building costs have soared over the past few years. In Toronto, the construction cost jumped 4.5% in just Q4 2021, with annual growth coming in at a whopping 25.6% increase. Since the project began construction in Q4 2019, the cost of building in Toronto has increased 35.1%. A cost increase of this magnitude would have been unreasonable to forecast. Even the Bank of Canada (BoC) can’t believe the current level of inflation.
Had developers incorporated that level of margin into the cost, buyers would pay for it. Imagine paying a 35% premium as a bet the BoC would keep interest rates too low for too long? A year ago, that would have been a ridiculous consideration.” (Greater Toronto Real Estate Development Files Insolvency After Inflation Squeeze – Better Dwelling)
BILD, a Greater Toronto Developer Group, Found 4 in 5 Members are Delayed Between 3 and 6 Months.
The GeoFocus Group continues to work extensively with Owners, Developers and Project Stakeholders to understand the root causes of their troubled, distressed and delayed projects and develop approaches to successfully assess, recover and complete their projects.
The GeoFocus Group assists clients by reviewing a project and implementing a recovery process that monitors and identifies the need for possible intervention. When intervention is required The GeoFocus Group utilizes in-house personnel to facilitate “boots on the ground” action ensuring personnel with extensive experience in delay analysis, project recovery participate in the completion of at-risk projects.
We are often called by Developers with troubled projects plagued with the following problems:
- Excessive delays with no plan to accelerate construction activities.
- Significant amounts of RFIs both issued and unanswered leadings to continued cost and schedule uncertainty.
- Project over certification resulting from the GC or CM overclaiming and project consultants certifying same.
- Inexperienced personnel/resources assigned to GC/CM teams leading to several costly deficiencies.
- Inconsistent/incompatible/uncoordinated contract documents leaving Owner/Developer’s exposed to undue risk.
- Numerous unapproved Change Orders and Change Directives.
With the construction industry facing soaring building costs, unprecedented inflation, labour strikes and shortages and with complex construction projects often left to inexperienced project participants, many projects are now with faced severe delay, deficiencies, and distress. Leading many construction projects to failures and suspensions.
In the midst of project delay, distress and disruption, The GeoFocus Group provides leadership, experience and technical expertise. Our 50+ year record in the industry combined with our experience in the provision of technical due diligence and strategic project recovery, enables us to understand the issues that are associated with project failure and or suspension. Once retained, with the priorities established and the issues defined, we progress to analyzing, creating, implementing, and then executing a construction project turnaround and recovery plan.