Avoiding disputes in large capital projects with Fluor’s Mark Fields
At the ECC Annual PerspECCtives Conference, Mark Fields, group president of project execution at Fluor, speaks with Jeremy ...
Group President of Project Execution, Fluor
Search every verified Mark Fields interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Mark Fields, group president of project execution at Fluor, spoke at the ECC Annual PerspECCtives Conference in September 2025 about avoiding disputes in large capital projects. He stated that a good contract with a clear division of responsibility is foundational, and that collaborative models with aligned incentives for both owner and contractor teams are often the most successful. Fields advocated for early intervention tools, such as regular change meetings and the use of neutral third parties to analyze issues, and said that resolving disagreements requires maturity and a fair and balanced view from both parties. He also noted that disputes often arise when one party takes on a risk it does not control. In earlier remarks from 2024, Fields discussed his career at Fluor, describing moves from the Midwest to California, then to Africa, and later to Thailand, where he worked on a refinery project that he said transformed a small village into a town with industry and employment. He encouraged young people to be flexible and willing to move to opportunities for growth and development.
“I think a lot of times when you see disputes you look at you know there's a different view on who owned the risk. You have fair sometimes you have risks that are unbalanced. People take on risks be it the owner or the contractor that they really don't control. When they can't control the risk and those risks actually m...”
“Very mature groups sit down and they go through the scope in detail. They talk about changes, what happens if this happens, who owns that change, and they have those kind of agreements and discussions up front so that they understand how to price, how to estimate. You really get into the situation where you simulate so...”
“Some of the most basic project governance practices include having a change meeting every week or two weeks where people put changes on the table and have a discussion about it. Too many times things fester and one party thinks it's not a change and the other party thinks it is a change and they don't sit down and talk...”
“A good contract, a good division of responsibility where everybody understands who owns the risk is the first foundational issue. If there's going to be contingency for a risk, who owns that contingency? It depends on whether you're in a lump sum contract or reimbursable contract. That whole alignment of interest about...”
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Mark Fields, Former Ford CEO, joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to talk Tesla's stock slump, the auto industry at large and a looming UAW strike.
Where Is the Auto Industry Headed? full story: http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/where-is-the-auto-industry-headed Self-driving cars promise a profound change to our day-to-day experience of transportation, perhaps eliminating the scourge of congestion with clever algorithms or even turning the daily grind of the commute into a leisure hour. How this nascent technology evolves will also reshape the auto industry, pitting industrial stalwarts against tech-industry newcomers. Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld spoke with former Ford CEO Mark Fields about what’s next for the car business.
Subscribe to Roadshow: http://bit.ly/1Z3Ff7G What's next for Ford's Smart Mobility program, and why would you want to share a lease with six people? We ask Ford CEO Mark Fields about all that and more. Watch more videos from the Detroit Auto Show: http://bit.ly/1JFP3NZ http://www.cnet.com/detroit-auto-show/ http://www.theroadshow.com Twitter: / roadshow Facebook: / roadshowautos Instagram: / roadshowautos
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