Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The condensed consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared by Granite Construction Incorporated (“we,” “us,” “our,” “Company” or “Granite”) without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted, although we believe the disclosures which are made are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. Further, the condensed consolidated financial statements reflect, in the opinion of management, all normal recurring adjustments necessary to state fairly our financial position at September 30, 2015 and 2014 and the results of our operations and cash flows for the periods presented. The December 31, 2014 condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited consolidated financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP.

Our operations are typically affected more by weather conditions during the first and fourth quarters of our fiscal year which may alter our construction schedules and can create variability in our revenues and profitability. Therefore, the results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

We prepared the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements on the same basis as our annual consolidated financial statements, except as follows:

Accounting Changes [Text Block]

Change in Accounting Policy for Affirmative Claims

Unresolved contract modifications and claims to recover additional costs to which the Company believes it is entitled under the terms of the customers’ contracts are pending or have been submitted on certain projects. The owners or their authorized representatives and/or other third parties may be in partial or full agreement with the modifications or claims, or may have rejected or disagree entirely or partially as to such entitlement.

Effective January 1, 2015, we changed our accounting policy for recognizing revenue associated with affirmative claims with customers. Revenue is now recognized to the extent of costs incurred when it is probable that a claim settlement with a customer will result in additional revenue and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Prior to this change in accounting policy, we recognized revenue from affirmative claims with customers when the claims were settled, generally when a legally binding agreement was signed. We believe this change in accounting policy is preferable as it more accurately reflects the timing and amount of revenue earned on our projects, as well as providing better comparability to our industry peers.

Recognizing claim recoveries requires significant judgments and estimates. During the first quarter of 2015, we implemented new and refined internal controls and processes to enable the reasonable estimation of claims.

Given that these internal controls and processes were not fully implemented until the first quarter of 2015, and we do not believe that it is possible to objectively distinguish information about claims estimates in prior periods from information that subsequently became available, it is impractical to independently and objectively substantiate judgments and estimates that would have been made with respect to claims in prior periods. Therefore, it is not possible to reasonably determine the estimated amounts of and prior reporting periods in which past claims would have met the criteria for recognition under our new accounting policy. Accordingly, we have adopted this accounting policy change prospectively beginning on January 1, 2015.

The effect of adopting the new accounting policy for customer claims was an increase in revenue and gross profit of $35.0 million and $44.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2014 customer claim settlements had a gross profit impact of $23.2 million. There were no customer claim settlements during the three months ended September 30, 2014. Recognition of estimated recovery for affirmative claims increases costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings and may remain outstanding for more than twelve months.

Gross profit associated with claims against non-customers, such as vendors, designers or subcontractors, continues to be recognized when the claims are settled. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and three months ended September 30, 2014, there were no claim settlements with non-customers. During the nine months ended September 30, 2014, gross profit from claim settlements with non-customers was $7.9 million.

The potential increase or decrease to gross profit from recoveries for contract modifications and claims may be material in future periods when claims, or a portion of such claims, against customers become probable and estimable, estimates are revised or when claims against other third parties are settled. In addition, the Company may incur additional costs when pursuing such potential recoveries or as a result of settlement.