THE LITTLE eBOOK THAT SAYS A LOT

To date, more than 5,000 copies distributed. The comments and reviews are excellent for “TEN GOLDEN RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL NEW BUILD PROJECTS"  Here is a sampling —

From Douglas Sharp (Douglas Sharp Yacht Design, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA):

“I read your e-book with great interest, and appreciate you sending it to me. The school of hard knocks has certainly taught us many of the lessons alluded to in your book, and I heartily agree with your conclusions and advice… Our industry needs to pay attention to hard won accumulated experience.”

From Stephen Moon (Board Certified Admiralty and Maritime Law Specialist, Stephen M. Moon, P.A., Cocoa, FL, USA):

“Your e-book is excellent.  I should have been doing a lot of other things this morning but I could not resist reading the e-book as soon as I had a break…  Your remarks are very insightful and will be appreciated by many.  I have a much better understanding of the events leading up to the actual build process and the important issues to consider before construction now.  Your e-book is a quick, must read for anyone involved in a new build project or major refit.”

From  Harry Jorgenson, (Jorgensen Marine Ltd, Atatu, Auckland,.NZ):

“Having been involved with large yacht building since the late 70s in varying roles I understand your 10 Golden Rules better than most. It is the most sensible advice that I have read for some time and should be essential reading for all involved.”

From Diane M. Byrne (Editor, Megayacht News, www.megayachtnews.com):

“I've just finished reading your eBook, and it contains sage advice for owners and their team of advisers.”

From Kenny Wooton (Editor-in-Chief, Yachts International magazine):   

“Each “rule” is explored in clear, concise prose easily accessible to non-experts.”   


My sincere thanks and genuine appreciation goes out to all who have taken the time to read the eBook and send their comments. .

For your FREE copy of TEN GOLDEN RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL NEW BUILD PROJECTS, email Phil@YachtBuildAdvisor.com, and insert “eBook” on the subject line.

Major Refits: Dealing with Emergent Work

Your yacht is headed to the shipyard for a major refit. You’ve had a pre-job inspection completed, and all items identified for repair or replacement are covered under a firm fixed-price agreement. The project is planned, budgeted, and all wrapped up. Well…maybe not. Not if you haven’t considered "emergent work" and how it is to be handled once the refit begins.



Emergent work is critical work that needs to performed, but the need for which is discovered only after a refit has started. It can involve anything from corroded piping or electrical connections to tank leaks or even structural issues that were not visible until, for example, certain interior joinery panels were removed as part of the planned refit. The important point to understand is that, as any candid shipyard manager will tell you, emergent work is often the icing on the refit yard’s cake, when it comes to profit.

The reason is pretty clear. Once a build or refit is underway, the shipyard no longer finds itself subject to the same competitive pressures it felt leading up to the original contract. Consequently, if your refit agreement doesn’t detail how emergent work. and change orders related to it, will be handled and priced, your agreement has a hole in it big enough to pilot a superyacht through.

Unless a procedure governing the acceptance, pricing, and effect on schedule of emergent work is incorporated into your refit agreement, you are open to finding yourself paying for emergent work at a unit rate much higher than in your original contract. Moreover, you may be forced to accept unreasonable delays to the scheduled completion/delivery date. And if that scheduled completion/delivery date is linked to plans for a date-sensitive cruise or charter, the true cost of the refit may end up to be much more expensive than you anticipate. So what to do?

The original refit contract should specify clearly an all-inclusive hourly shop rate that is to be applied to emergent work and related change orders. The original contract should also lay out clearly a reasonable and mutually acceptable procedure for calculating any schedule changes that are to ensue as the result of the yard’s accepting the emergent work. And there should also be a detailed procedure for pre-submission of pricing quotes and proposed schedule modifications to the vessel’s owner or his/her representative. Such detail should include specification of definite time periods to be allowed for submission, review, and approval/rejection of change orders related to such emergent work.

Dealing effectively with emergent work requires that both the shipyard and the yacht’s owner act reasonably and in good faith. To avoid unnecessarily delaying a project in mid-stream, consideration should be given to incorporating provisions in the refit agreement to the effect that, in the event of a disagreement over emergent work, the shipyard's work on the yacht will proceed as originally schedule, subject retroactively to any pricing and schedule modifications ultimately awarded by an agreed upon arbitration procedure. If nothing else, this sort of provision brings significant pressure upon all parties to achieve a negotiated resolution to any disputes involving emergent or change-order work. It also avoids unnecessarily delaying the progress of a refit due to a disagreement about the pricing and timing of emergent work.