THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
rodwelch@pacbell.net


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: April 22, 1988 08:00 AM .......; Rod Welch

Presentation at Stanford on law and contracts; explain SDS and POIMS.

1...Summary/Objective
.......Lessons from the Trenches
.......Proving Reliance on Misrepresentations in Public Contracts
2...SDS and POIMS Explained
3...Stanford Supporting Integrated Management Solutions


..............
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CONTACTS 
0201 - Civil Engineering Department                                                                                                                                       O-00000232 0201
020101 - Mr. John W. Fondahl; Professor
020102 - Construction Engineering & Management Program                                                                                                                    O-00000232 0201
020103 - Mr. Ray Levitt, Ph.D.; Professor                                                                                                                                 O-00000232 0205
020104 - Construction Engineering & Management Program                                                                                                                    O-00000232 0205

SUBJECTS
Speaking engagement Welch v. State
Stanford on Welch Case
Educational Institutions

0705 -
0705 -    ..
0706 - Summary/Objective
0707 -
070701 - Follow up ref SDS 2 000.
070702 -
070703 - Gave a presentation...
070704 -
070705 -       Lessons from the Trenches
070706 -       Proving Reliance on Misrepresentations in Public Contracts
070707 -
070708 - Explained background of Welch case, bidding the project, discoverying
070709 - errors in the plans after working with conflicting conditions and
070710 - encountering extra cost.
070711 -
070712 -       [On 900703 gave presentation on POIMS. ref SDS 5 0001]
070714 -  ..
070715 - Reviewed orginal trial where reliance on bid documents was not found,
070716 - despite estimate showing plan data was applied, and pricing was
070717 - consistent with erroneous information.  Discussed meaning of contract
070718 - general conditions that submission of bids is conclusive evidence of
070719 - having examined the plans.
070721 -  ..
070722 - If contractors are responsible for applying the plans correctly, why
070723 - is the government not liable when the contractor applies erroneous
070724 - plans correctly?
070726 -  ..
070727 - Explained issues of reliance on affirmative misrepresentation, and
070728 - duty to disclose material information, and to furnish information
070729 - equally to all bidders, which resulted in a favorable ruling in Welch
070730 - 2.  Explained reasoning for believing Welch II incorrectly ignored
070731 - the law of the case, by falsely contending the published ruling in
070732 - Welch I said the contractor may have been misled, when the case
070733 - actually says the contractor "doubtly" was misled.
070735 -  ..
070736 - Presented some ideas on the need for predictability in the law flowing
070737 - from the Welch case.  Discussed the issue of reliance as a burden of
070738 - proof. Stressed the importance of reading carefully contract and legal
070739 - opinions that bear upon particular issues, rather than placing
070740 - confidence in preliminary opinions by lawyers and judges.
070742 -  ..
070743 - Since this was a graduate program, the class had students with work
070744 - experience in contracting.
070746 -  ..
070747 - A Mr. London from McInnerny & Dillon gave a presentation last night on
070748 - contract law.  The class sponsored a seminar a few weeks ago on CM.
070749 - John was surprised by the size of the turn-out.
070751 -  ..
070752 - Despite the high level of sophistication within this group, there did
070753 - not seem to be a realization of the potential impact on competitive
070754 - bidding as an institution posed by the language in Welch I.
070756 -  ..
070757 - John asked about the information in the Pier 10 records in light of
070758 - finding 5:
070759 -
070760 -   These diaries contained only a few scattered references to tide
070761 -   conditions, which are described only in narrative and subjective
070762 -   fashion, e.g., "work progressing slowly due to high water."  Except
070763 -   for two dates, January 6, 1970 and March 4, 1970, in a seven-month
070764 -   period, these diary entries do not contain an elevation of a
070765 -   particular tied or velocity of current; they do not give any
070766 -   indications of mean or average high tide conditions; they do not
070767 -   eliminate or materially qualify the misleading effect of the
070768 -   erroneous MHHW elevation in the General Notes, nor do they shed any
070769 -   light on the actual tide conditions at the site."
070771 -  ..
070772 - John also asked about the Court's treatment of the State's funding
070773 - estimate of $850,000 based on the Pier 10 record.  He wondered how a
070774 - conclusion could follow that the Pier 10 information was not material
070775 - to bidders who had all bid below $700,000 without that information?
070777 -  ..
070778 - I explained my sense that this reasoning shows the court of appeal
070779 - erred in the Welch II opinion, and that the Supreme Court should have
070780 - reversed, but failed to do so.
070781 -
070782 -
070784 -  ..
0708 -
0709 - Britt Stitt
0710 - Power Engineering
0711 -
071101 - Following the presentation, met Britt Stitt with Power Engineering
071102 - Contractors, who sat in on the discussion for information purposes.
071104 -  ..
071105 - Britt said the State had requested that he testify for them in the
071106 - 1985 trial.  He advised that based upon the information given to him
071107 - it appeared the State's position was correct.  He refused to testify
071108 - on the general grounds of not wishing to harm a fellow contractor.
071109 -
071111 -  ..
0712 -
0713 - Forum/seminar
0714 -
071401 - Following the presentation, met with John for further discussions.
071402 -
071403 - Recommended that Stanford consider sponsoring a forum to discuss the
071404 - issues presented in the Welch experience.  Could invite retired Judge
071405 - Perluss, State Counsel Fred Graebe, and perhaps some State lawmakers.
071407 -  ..
071408 - Suggested this could be a joint sponsorship with the Stanford Law
071409 - School.  John indicated this might be difficult to do because of the
071410 - department structure at Stanford; although he mentioned having a
071411 - "friend" in the Law School that might be helpful.
071413 -  ..
071414 - The objective would be to formulate findings and recommendations for
071415 - legislative changes to correct the harmful effects of Welch.
071416 -
071417 -
071418 -
0715 -

SUBJECTS
Product endorsements
Stanford

0804 -
080501 -  ..
080502 - SDS and POIMS Explained
080503 - Stanford Supporting Integrated Management Solutions
080504 -
080505 - Follow up ref SDS 2 PU91, ref SDS 3 BW4J.
080506 -
080507 - Met with Ray Levitt who is participating in the development of a new
080508 - program called "Integrated Facilities," explained by John on 880415.
080509 - ref SDS 2 PU94
080511 -  ..
080512 - Ray explained the principle, initial objective of the program will be
080513 - to develop software that can upgrade design drawings for all affected
080514 - disciplines when a change is made.  Project control systems (cost
080515 - schedule) are not involved.  Thus it appears to be graphics oriented
080516 - design application for engineers and architects.  I pointed out that
080517 - the Welch Super system is not drawing oriented, but rather intends to
080518 - control ideas and information in narrative form  through integration
080519 - with standard control systems.  Upon discussion  Ray said the
080520 - application as described is similar to the features of "hyper-text."
080522 -  ..
080523 - He noted the necessity for such capability to support the objectives
080524 - of Stanford's proposed undertaking.
080526 -  ..
080527 - Ease of use
080529 -  ..
080530 - Both John and Ray commented on this.
080532 -  ..
080533 - John cited the example of wanting to use Primavera for CPM class study
080534 - projects because of its features, but found that the learning time was
080535 - too great relative to the time available for the topic during the
080536 - course period.  As a result he opted to use the McIntosh because it is
080537 - easy to learn and so leaves more time for students to concentrate on
080538 - the substantive theories of scheduling, the real objective, rather the
080539 - mechanics of computer use.
080541 -  ..
080542 - Ray offered that if the Welch system to align communication and daily
080543 - work with requirements requires more than a few hours to learn, then
080544 - this may be too great a burden for widespread use.
080545 -
080546 -            [On 900516 reviewed scope of SDS and POIMS with John and
080547 -            Haresh at PMI dinner meeting. ref SDS 3 BW4J
080549 -             ..
080550 -            [On 900619 scheduled meeting at Stanford on 900703 to
080551 -            review SDS and POIMS. ref SDS 4 576L
080553 -  ..
080554 - Seems odd that students spending 4 years to learn skills do not have
080555 - time to learn how to deploy skills accurately that align with
080556 - objectives, requirements and commitments.
080557 -
080558 -            [On 971004 Stanford construction project management office
080559 -            closed because "best of best" failed to meet objectives.
080560 -            ref SDS 7 0001
080562 -  ..
080563 - I explained that within a few hours one could be effective using the
080564 - program, but that skills and application development can essentially
080565 - extend forever.  As with mathematics, one will not learn all of the
080566 - features in a single day, but in the same way that a lot can be done
080567 - with arithmetic while algebra, calculus ... are being learned, the
080568 - Welch software affords a similarly expansive environment.
080570 -      ..
080571 -     Essentially the issue is simply benefits vs. cost.
080573 -      ..
080574 -     By definition, big benefits are not cheap.  The vary existence of
080575 -     a rich list of powerful features confronts Users with the
080576 -     necessity of determining appropriate circumstances to apply them.
080577 -     The proper question is whether execution of features is
080578 -     accomplished in a way that is conducive to expedited learning.
080580 -  ..
080581 - Ray had to leave at this point.
080582 -
080583 -
080584 -
080585 -
080586 -
080587 -
0806 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"