2 Eastern Construction has a contract for the construction of a data center. During the construction of the building, the contractor found that the electrical and mechanical drawings contained several conflicts with the structural drawings. Eastern’s project manager submitted several Requests for Information (RFI) to determine how to resolve the conflicts. Upon analyzing the responses to each RFI, the project manager determined that Eastern would incur additional costs as a consequence of the additional work to be performed. To seek compensation for the additional work, the project manager submitted a request for a change order to the project owner, which was refused.

Since the contractor had incurred unanticipated cost due to the design conflicts, the project manager submitted a claim to the project owner in accordance with the claims procedures contained in the construction contract. Eastern’s electrical subcontractor had incurred additional cost due to unanticipated material price escalation for electrical materials.

The project manager decided to include that additional cost in the claim for additional compensation for the design conflicts.

 Were the actions of the project manager ethical?

 How would you have handled the situation?