New Case History Published! #117: Disaster Averted… The Power of a Peer Review

GBA has a long history of sharing the painful and sometimes expensive lessons its member firms have learned through its popular

GBA Case History Series. Member firms can also learn from one another from projects that turned out successfully.

As described in our newest Case History, #117, a GBA member firm was hired to peer review the geotechnical exploration report completed by a non-member firm at the site of a new warehouse with a mezzanine level.

The GBA member firm’s review revealed the original report – completed by the non-member firm’s inexperienced engineer, who lacked senior staff support – used limited consolidation tests at shallow depths and a reliance on correlations to estimate ground settlement. The GBA member firm noted that the stress overlap of the large footings supporting the mezzanine level was not considered, thereby underestimating the amount of settlement the footings could undergo.

The non-member firm quickly understood that without the peer review, they could have been in a lawsuit that would have cost them many times their fees. The GBA member firm gained additional work with the developer thanks to a successful project outcome and built on their relationship as a trusted consultant.

GBA Case Histories provide unprecedented real-world learning examples related to project and business management. Learn where others went wrong, how they handled their problems, and how you can learn from their experiences to avoid the same problems in the future.

Case Histories are FREE for all GBA Members.

DOWNLOAD CASE HISTORY #117 HERE.

View the GBA Case History Digest or search the GBA resource library to find other learning opportunities for your firm.