Litigation - noun - the process of taking legal action.
It’s a word that keeps many construction professionals up at night. Litigation is time-consuming and expensive. In some cases, it can grind projects to a complete stop. In today’s litigious world, construction professionals need to think ahead in order to protect themselves, their company, and their livelihoods against unnecessary risk.
Construction cameras are a powerful tool to help prevent and, in some cases, resolve expensive and time-consuming litigation.
Here are some ways that construction cameras can help keep you and your job site stay protected:
It’s called the Deterrent Effect.
The mere presence of a construction camera on a job site helps keep your employees, subcontractors, delivery drivers, and others focused on safety and compliance. The fact that your project has a camera on site enforces your company’s commitment to honesty and safety on the job site.
With a camera installed at your project, you’ll be able to ensure:
A camera can be a daily reminder that it’s important to follow proper procedures whenever you are on the job site.
The most powerful way that cameras help to avoid litigation is by providing clear evidence that can be used to resolve disputes long before the lawyers need to get involved.
From day one, an iBEAM Construction Camera creates a photographic record documenting the day-to-day operations of your site. This sounds mundane and obvious, but you never know when today is the day you’ll need to refer back to in order to settle a dispute.
With an iBEAM Construction Camera, you have immediate access to an online archive of photos of your individual project(s). This allows you to easily log in to your iBEAM account, filter images or video to the exact date and time in question, and see precisely what occurred at the job site. This archive is even available years after your project is finished -- long after memories have faded and people have moved on to new projects.
Often this indisputable visual evidence is enough to prevent disputes from escalating to litigation, thus saving you time, money, and a bit of your sanity.
For instance, if there was an accident on the job, you could log into your iBEAM account and filter your archived images based upon date and time in order to find out exactly what caused the accident, who was at fault, and what next steps need to be taken.
Consider this...one iBEAM client used their project’s photo archive to confirm whether or not a subcontractor was completing the work they claimed. By referring to the time and date-stamped photos in their iBEAM archive, the contractor had clear evidence that the sub was NOT completing the work they claimed to be doing and billing for, ultimately helping the client save over $90,000!
Talk about a return on investment!
During a recent AGC webinar about using imagery on projects, John Andres of ANDRES Construction noted they like to use a construction camera on every project, regardless of the project size. They do this to ensure the deliverables from their team are second to none, because at the end of the day it’s their company name and reputation on the project.
It’s this type of forward-thinking that allows ANDRES Construction projects to be safe and meet their clients' vision time and time again, all the while being incredibly successful from the beginning.
A construction camera is a small piece of a project's overall budget, but the benefits and peace of mind it provides are immeasurable. Instead of leaving your company exposed to potential risk and possible litigation, set yourself up for success from the start by installing a construction camera on your project.
When you’re ready to learn more about construction cameras and how they can help your project succeed (and prevent/avoid costly litigation), contact our friendly team of camera experts here or give them a call at 800.403.0688. We’re more than happy to help answer any questions you may have.
Until next time, keep what’s really important in focus.
Vicki Robertson
Vice President
iBEAM Construction Cameras
Doing the right thing, for every client, every time.