State comptroller refuses to pay for setbacks blamed on the rail authority

State Comptroller Curt Otaguro is refusing to authorize payments for delay claims on the city’s rail project if the city rail authority or its consultants were to blame for the circumstances — rejecting already a total of $11.2 million in invoices.

That could present a serious problem for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, which has already agreed to pay many millions of dollars in delay claims to various contractors working on the $9.2 billion rail line. In one settlement announced earlier this year, the rail authority agreed to pay $160 million to resolve delay claims by contractor Ansaldo Honolulu JV.

Development of the 20-mile rail line is far behind schedule, prompting large delay claims from a number of contractors. The city projected in 2012 the entire rail line would be operating by Jan. 31, 2020, but the city now does not expect the full rail line to open until the end of 2025.

There are costs associated with those delays because contractors are required to mobilize, hire crews and be ready to start work by specific dates. If the project is then delayed unexpectedly, contractors often will seek to recoup their mobilization and other costs.

Read more: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/08/09/hawaii-news/state-comptroller-refuses-to-pay-for-setbacks-blamed-on-the-rail-authority/?HSA=8a8071da90897a1ad504479e2daa544f879bfeaa