Chant Construction Ltd. will provide Yukon Energy with a 'detailed summary' of its multimillion-dollar claim by the end of the month, says the company president.

Ted Chant said Tuesday from Chant's Vancouver office that nine or 10 people have been working full-time for the last nine or 10 months preparing documentation.

The company was hired to build the Dawson City-Mayo power line. So far, the project has cost $36.2 million $9 million or 30 per cent over the original budget of $27.2 million.

Chant has filed a claim against Yukon Energy for an additional $17 million related to the project, while Yukon Energy has filed a claim against Chant for $9.5 million.

In a report delivered Monday by the office of the Auditor General of Canada, the auditor general found that the Crown corporation demonstrated poor management of the project from the very start.

It lacked both the experience and expertise to manage such a project, and ignored a recommendation from B.C. Hydro not to proceed with the approach it was taking to contract out the work.

'The auditor general's report largely confirms what we have seen and experienced for three years that the project was mismanaged by the Yukon Energy Corporation,' Chant said in an interview.

He said he attempted to settle the outstanding matters in a simplified approach with Yukon Energy by providing the corporation with a list of the items the company feels it should be paid for.

The corporation, he pointed out, was aware of the individual items as they arose during construction of the transmission line. However, it chose not to deal with the claims until after the project was complete.

Yukon Energy president David Morrison said Monday in an interview after the report was delivered that he's been asking Chant Construction for more than a year to provide details to support its claims.

Without specifics, he's not able to weigh those claims, said Morrison, who was brought in as chair of Yukon Energy, amid the standoff with Chant and was recently appointed as president.

Out of the $17 million filed for, he said, $6 million is related to an allegation by Chant that Yukon Energy interfered with the company's ability to earn revenue by defaming its image with the firm that posted the performance bond for Chant.

If the company wants to pursue that $6 million, it will have to file a lawsuit, because it's completely separate from the matters arising out of the work itself, Morrison said.

Take away the $6 million, he added, and the parties are then much closer, with the claims by Chant related to the actual project adding to $11 million and Yukon Energy's remaining at $9.7 million.

Chant declined to comment when asked if the $6-million figure was related to an issue of defamation.

He did acknowledge, however, that money the company is spending to prepare what he described as seamless documentation to support its case will be added to the claim.

Chant said he's in discussion with Yukon Energy to establish a process to settle matters after it delivers its detailed summary.

B.C. Hydro International, an engineering subsidiary of B.C. Hydro, was hired by Yukon Energy to review the project proposal.

The auditor general found that B.C. Hydro recommended Yukon Energy should not use a design-build contract approach for the transmission line, where the same company is hired to design, build and schedule the project.

Instead, the engineering firm recommended Yukon Energy use the approach of designing the transmission line, then putting the work out to tender. That would give the power corporation more control over the management and scheduling of the project.

The report says it appears the corporation's board was not fully briefed about the risks of the design-build approach, says the auditor general's report.

'However, despite the advice of the engineering firm, the corporation's management recommended that the board of directors approve the design-build approach,' says the report.