Active construction site with a tower crane reflected in water

Overview

Paul Gaston reviews construction performed inside occupied and operational facilities for attorneys, insurers and owners in Chicago and Cook County. He examines phasing, coordination, protection of occupied areas and the practical execution of work in live buildings, drawing on more than fifteen years running renovation inside the fully operational environment at O'Hare International Airport.

Related: Chicago Maintenance Expert · ExpertWitnessChicago.com

Building around people changes everything. Phasing, protection, access and sequencing carry obligations that do not exist on an empty site, and they are frequently where these claims begin.

What makes occupied work different

Work has to be staged around operations, occupied areas protected, access routes maintained, and completed work shielded from continuing use while the next phase proceeds.
  • Phasing and staging around continuing building operations
  • Protection of occupied areas, finishes and adjacent completed work
  • Maintaining access, egress and accessible routes during construction

Direct experience

Fifteen years of renovation, maintenance, carpentry, flooring and finish work at O'Hare, plus municipal, healthcare and retail projects. These are environments that never close, where phasing failures become visible immediately.
Open-plan living room with full-height glazing overlooking a pool
  • Phasing plan review
  • Protection measure assessment
  • Access and egress continuity
  • Coordination record review
  • Findings and repair scope

Typical disputes

Damage to occupied areas, disruption from poor sequencing, defective work concealed by phasing, and failures to maintain access during construction.
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Quality Control and Inspection-Failure Review

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Repair Scope and Cost of Repair

Essential Details
Discuss a Matter

Questions Attorneys Ask

Any building that stays in use while construction proceeds, such as an airport, hospital, school, retail centre or occupied residential building.
Because phasing, protection and access obligations exist that simply do not arise on an empty site, and they are frequently where the dispute originates.
More than fifteen years running renovation and construction inside the fully operational environment at O'Hare International Airport, plus municipal and healthcare work.
Yes. Whether protection measures met accepted practice, and what the scope and cost to correct the damage should be.
Yes. Keeping access and egress usable during construction is a recurring obligation and a recurring failure point.
Yes, against how the work was actually staged and whether the sequence protected the building and its occupants.