“What do I do now?” he asked in a despairing voice, after detailing the trials that he and his partners in the building had been through until they received the approvals required for dividing the apartments and renovating the building, and now the project manager they had hired had suddenly been killed in a road accident.
A delay of more than a year in their business schedule, and now another obstacle in the way that could delay them again. From my acquaintance with the partners I knew they did not have the knowledge needed to manage such a complex project themselves, and that they would need a local person who knows the local regulation to manage the project for them.
We boarded a flight and right after landing, still on the way from the airport to the hotel, we stopped at the offices of the project manager's company. He was a kind of “one man show,” as I had assumed, and only the secretary was there. From my conversation with her I understood that it would take time, if at all, before someone decided whether the company would continue to exist and provide services to its clients.
After a few phone calls I managed to arrange meetings the next day with 2 project managers whom I had worked with on behalf of other clients and been favorably impressed by. The meetings were good and businesslike. One of the two gave the client names of references, and we accompanied him to a site where he works. In parallel, the local office prepared a notice of termination of engagement to the company of the late project manager.
That same evening we received price quotes from the 2 project managers we met. The quotes were more expensive than the cost of the previous project manager, and I had a feeling that they were trying to exploit the client's distress.
The local partner recommended another project management company, and in parallel with scheduling a meeting with it we negotiated with the two we had already met, and I managed to get one of them, with whom I had a long and more significant prior acquaintance, to match the price of the project manager who was killed, and he was appointed project manager.
When you work in a foreign country, familiarity with the place matters not only from the legal standpoint but also in the ability to assemble for you the professional team, the hive, that will accompany you in setting up the project.
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית