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D e a l i n g w i t h d e l a y c l a i m s

a survey

c o t t

A survey was conducted in which interviews were

carried out with contractors and supervising engineers

to identify the extent to which claims fo r delay occur on

major contracts and also to discover how such claims

are prepared and assessed. It appears from the survey

that claims fo r extensions of time occur on the majority

of major civil-engineering contracts although acceleration

claims occur much less frequently. The main part of the

survey addressed the means by which contractors attempt

to jus tif y their claims and the methods of assessment

of these claims used by supervising engineers. This was

approached in a number o f ways and the paper presents

conclusions concerning attitudes towards such claims

and also the mechanisms which are used to prepare and

evaluate them.

Keywords: delay claims extensions of time critical-path

method

Claims are generally considered to be an inevitable

feature of major projects that has to be dealt with on the

majori ty of contracts let. The project designer s accepted

inability to provide fully for all eventualities means that

changes are made to the contract as it proceeds, and,

where these involve additional work, adjusted payments

are necessary. Disagreements on the level of these pay-

ments are a typical source of claims. As well as causing

changes to the payments made, these variations

also often result in delays to the works. Where these

delays have a knock-on effect on the project as a whole,

they may give rise to extra costs resulting from the

contractor s prolonged presence on site, whereby he/

she incurs additional overhead costs for the extended

period. Not all delays stem from such changes, and it is

generally recognized that delays may be attributed to the

employer/owner, to the contractor, or to neither party.

The contract normally specifies a predetermined time

after which it must be substan tially completed and avail-

able for use. In the absence of delays, failure to complete

substantially within this timeframe often means that

liquidated damages are deducted from the contractor.

These are at the level defined in the contract, and are

payable for the period by which the whole project is

delayed. Such damages should aim to compensate the

employer/owner for any lost profits or lost benefits stem-

ming from his/her inability to make use of the project at

the agreed date. Clearly, where delays have occurred dur-

ing the project which can be attributed to the employer/

owner and have delayed the contractor, these should be

taken into account before such damages are deducted.

The opportunities available in many contract conditions

to recognize a contrac tor s right to have the time for the

completion of the contract extended reflect this accep-

tance of the more likely state of affairs.

By no means all of the changes to a contract delay the

project. Some involve changes in detail th at merely affect

the nature of the work to be done without increasing its

difficulty, requirement for resources or duration. Other

changes actually reduce the work to be carried out. There

are typically, however, changes that do delay, increase

the duration of, or force a change in the sequence of, the

activities that make up the contractor s programme. The

impact of such amendments on the total project time

cannot be easily predicted at the time at which the events

occur, and consideration must also be given to delays for

which the employer/owner is not responsible.

Delays to parts of the contractor s programme (which

may not necessarily cause delays in the project as a whole,

simply using up available float time) are most helpfully

categorized as those for which

the employer/owner or his/her supervising engineer is

responsible (E),

the contra ctor is responsible (C),

neither party to the contract is responsible (N).

epartment

of Civil Engineering, Cassie Building, University of

Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NEI 7RU, UK

In the US literature, these are usually called compensable

(E), nonexcusable (C) and excusable (N), and some of

Vol 11 No 3 Augus t 1 9 9 3 0263-7863/93/030143-11 1993 Butterwor th-Heinemann Ltd 143

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D ea l in g w i th d e la y c la im s a su rv ey

t h e m a i n r e a s o n s f o r d e l a y e n c o u n t e r e d u n d e r t h e s e

subdiv i s ions a re , re spec t ive ly ,

c h a n g e s to t h e c o n t r a c t d o c u m e n t s , f a i l u r e to p r o v i d e

l a n d o r i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h i n a r e a s o n a b l e t i m e , a n d

f a il u re to a p p r o v e t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s m e t h o d o f w o r k i n g

expedi t ious ly ,

i n a d e q u a t e s u p e r v i s i o n a n d t e c h n i c a l s u p p o r t , l a t e

a g r e e m e n t s w i t h s u b c o n t r a c t o r s / s u p p l i e r s , i n s u f f i c i e n t

l a b o u r / p l a n t ,

s t ri k e s, r i o ts a n d e x c e p t i o n a l a d v e r s e w e a t h e r .

T h e r e a p p e a r s t o b e a g e n e r a l c o n s e n s u s a s t o t h e r i g h t s

t o a d d i t i o n a l t i m e a n d p a y m e n t f o r s u c h d e l a y s ( w h e r e

w a r r a n t e d ) i n a l l t h e c o n t r a c t f o r m s e n c o u n t e r e d b y t h e

au thor . These a re a s fo l lows :

D e l a y t y p e E

A w a r d : e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e p lu s e x t e n d e d

overhead cos t s .

D e l a y t y p e C A w a r d : n o c o m p e n s a t i o n .

D e l a y t y p e N

A w a r d : e x t e n s i o n o f t im e w i t h o u t

e x t e n d e d o v e r h e a d c o s t s .

I t s h o u l d b e s t r e s s e d t h a t i t i s d a n g e r o u s t o g e n e r a l i z e

o n c o n t r a c t u a l m a t t e r s . F o r a n y p a r t i c u l a r c o n t r a c t , i t

i s t h e a c t u a l c o n d i t i o n s u s e d t h a t m u s t b e c o n s u l t e d t o

a s c e r t ai n t h e l i a b i li t y f o r t h e d e l a y s . H o w e v e r , p r o v i d i n g

t h i s i s u n d e r s t o o d , t h i s m e t h o d o f r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e

s i tua t ion i s a use fu l one .

A r e a li s ti c d e l a y - c l a i m s c e n a r i o o n a c o m p l e x p r o j e c t

m a y w e l l c o n t a i n a n u m b e r o f d e l a y s o f e a c h o f

these th ree types , a f fec t ing d i f fe ren t ac t iv i t i e s in the

p r o g r a m m e a t d i f f e re n t ti m e s . I t i s a l s o q u i t e l i k e l y t h a t

a r e q u e s t f o r a n e x t e n s i o n o f t h e c o n t r a c t t i m e f o r

c o m p l e t io n m a y b e m a d e p a r t o f t h e w a y t h r o u g h t h e

c o n t r a c t . W h e r e t h e c o n t r a c t o r h a s a l r e a d y r e q u e s t e d

s u c h a n e x te n s i o n , a n d t h i s h a s b e e n t u r n e d d o w n , h e / s h e

m a y n o w s a y t h a t , a s a r e s u l t o f t h i s , h e / sh e i s h a v i n g t o

a c c e l e ra t e t o c o m p l e t e o n t i m e . T h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r

m u s t c o n s i d e r t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s c l a i m i n a l l i t s c o m p l e x i t y ,

a n d , d e p e n d i n g o n t h e t y p e o f c l a i m , m a k e a d e c i s i o n as

t o w h e t h e r a n e x t e n s i o n o f th e c o n t r a c t t i m e s h o u l d b e

g i v e n , o r w h e t h e r t h e c o n t r a c t o r h a s h a d t o a c c e l e r a t e ,

a n d s h o u l d b e r e c o m p e n s e d f o r a n y a d d i t i o n a l c o s t s .

T h e s e a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y d i ff i c u l t s i t u a t i o n s t o c o m p r e h e n d

f u l ly a n d t o m a k e j u d g m e n t s o n , a n d , i n t h e U K i n

pa r t i cu la r , the re i s l i t t le gu ida nce t o a s s i s t in the p roces s .

T h e a i m o f th e s u r v ey w a s t o a t t e m p t t o u n d e r s t a n d h o w

p r o f e s s i o n a l s a c t u a l l y d e a l w i t h t h e s e s i t u a t i o n s i n t h e

a b s e n c e o f s u c h g u i d a n c e .

M A I N S U R V E Y

T h e s u r v e y w a s c a r r i e d o u t i n o r g a n i z a t i o n s o p e r a t i n g

a s s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r s a n d c o n t r a c t o r s o n m a j o r c o n -

s t r u c t i o n p r o j ec t s in t h e U K . B e c a u s e o f th e c o m p l e x i t y

o f t h e a r e a s t u d i e d , i t w a s c o n s i d e r e d t o b e n o t f e a s i b l e

t o u s e a m a i l s h o t a p p r o a c h , a n d , i n s t e a d , i n t e r v i e w s w e r e

h e l d t h a t w e r e b a s e d o n q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . T h e q u e s t i o n -

n a i r e s w e r e p i l o t e d b y c a r r y i n g o u t i n t e r v i e w s p r i o r t o

t h e m a i n s u r v e y , a n d w e r e e d i t e d t o t a k e a c c o u n t o f t h e

f i n d i n g s f r o m t h e se i n t e r v ie w s . T w o q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w e r e

u s e d : o n e f o r t h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r s , a n d o n e f o r t h e

con t rac to rs . In som e ques t ions , the re sponses were fu r the r

s u b d i v i d e d i n t o t h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r ( e n g i n e e r ) a n d

h i s / h e r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o n s i t e ( R E ) , a n d t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s

m a i n e n g i n e e r ( a g e n t ) , a n d h i s / h e r f i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n t

(QS).

T h e r e s p o n s e r a t e f o r th e m a i n s u r v e y w a s 4 5 , a n d

th i s gen e ra te d 22 in te rv iews . Of these , 11 were conduc ted

wi th o rgan iza t ion s tha t fu l f i l led the supe rv i s ing eng inee r ' s

r o l e , a n d 11 w i t h c o n t r a c t o r s . S o m e o f t h e c o m p a n i e s

a p p r o a c h e d d i d n o t r e s p o n d a t a ll , e v e n a f t e r a r e m i n d e r

w a s s e n t o u t , a n d o n e f i r m r e p l i e d t h a t i t w o u l d n o t

b e c o m e i n v o l v e d a s i t w a s i t s ' . . . p o l i c y n o t t o d i s c u s s

c o m m e r c i a l m a t t e r s o u t s i d e o u r o w n o r g a n i z a t i o n ' .

D e s p i t e t h i s v i e w p o i n t , w h i c h m a y h a v e b e e n t h e b a s i s

f o r a n u m b e r o f n o n r e sp o n s e s , t h o s e w h o d i d t a k e p ar t

d i d s o e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y . T h e i n t e r v ie w s t y p i c a l l y t o o k 2 h

e a c h t o c o m p l e t e , a n d w e r e c o n d u c t e d i n t h e o f fi ce s a n d

s i t e h u t s o f t h e r e s p o n d e n t s .

T h e f i n d i n g s f r o m t h e s e i n t e rv i e w s c le a r l y re l a t e m o s t

d i r e c t l y t o t h e U K c o n s t r u c t i o n i n d u s t r y , b u t , b e c a u s e

o f t h e s i m i l a r i ti e s f o u n d i n t h i s a r e a b e t w e e n t h e c o n t r a c t

c o n d i t i o n s u s e d i n t h e U K a n d t h o s e u s e d i n o t h e r

count r i e s , i t i s be l i eved tha t they have a wide r re levance .

I t is , how ever , recognized th a t m o re sophis t i ca ted sys tem s

f o r d e a l i n g w i t h d e l a y c l a i m s e x is t i n t h e U S A , a n d , f o r

U S r e a d e r s , i t m a y b e i n t e r e s t i n g t o c o m p a r e t h e t w o

a p p r o a c h e s .

M A I N F I N D I N G S

F o r c l a r i t y , a l l t h e i n t e r v i e w s c o n d u c t e d w i t h t h e

q u e s t i o n n a i r e p r e p a r e d f o r o r g a n i z a t i o n s f u lf i ll i n g t h e

supe rv i s ing-eng inee r ro le ( i . e . loca l au thor i t i e s and con-

s u i t i n g e n g i n e e r s ) a r e r e f e r r e d t o a s

en g in eer

in te rv iews .

T h o s e c a r r i e d o u t u s i n g t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e d e s i g n e d f o r

c o n t r a c t o r s a r e r e f e r r e d t o a s

c o n t r a c t o r

in te rv iews . The

f i n d i n g s a r e b e s t c o n s i d e r e d u n d e r t h e h e a d i n g s ( a ) d e l a y

c l a im s : f r e q u e n c y o f o c c u r r e n c e a n d a w a r d , ( b ) p r e p -

a r a t i o n / a s s e s s m e n t o f c l a i m s .

Dela y claims frequency of occurrence and award

T h e m a i n q u e s t i o n s i n t h i s s e c t i o n f o l l o w a s i m p l e

p a t t e r n . F i r s t , t h e f r e q u e n c y o f t h e e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e

c l a i m s i s a d d r e s s e d ; t h i s i s t h e n f o l l o w e d b y q u e s t i o n s

t o d e t e r m i n e t h e e x t e n t o f a w a r d s f o r s u c h c la i m s . T h i s

p r o c e d u r e i s t h e n r e p e a t e d w i t h a c c e l e r a t i o n c l a i m s .

T h e q u a n t i t a t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t r e s u l t e d f r o m t h e s e

ques t ions i s p resen ted in Tab le 1 , and i t i s d i s cus sed in

d e t a i l b e l o w .

I n t r y i n g t o i d e n t i f y th e f r e q u e n c y w i t h w h i c h e x t e n s i o n

o f t i m e c l a i m s a r e m a d e , i t w a s f e l t n e ce s s a r y to s t i p u l a t e

t h a t s u c h c l a i m s s h o u l d o n l y b e r e c o g n i z e d i f t h e y a r e

subm i t t ed wi th su ppo r t ing ev idence . Of ten , l e tt e rs a re s en t

b y t h e c o n t r a c t o r t h a t s t a t e t h a t a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e

m a y b e n e e d e d a s a r e s u l t o f s o m e d e l a y c au s e d b y t h e

e m p l o y e r o r s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r , b u t t h a t n e v e r a c t u a l l y

lead to a c la im . Ins tance s such a s these a re no t cons ide red

t o b e r e a l c l a im s , a n d t h e u s e o f t h e p h r a s e ' . . . w i t h

s u p p o r t i n g e v i d e n c e ' w a s i n t e n d e d t o m a k e t h i s c l e a r t o

r e s p o n d e n t s . T o e l ic i t s e n si b le i n f o r m a t i o n r e g a r d i n g t h e

f r e q u e n c y o f e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e c l a im s , t w o q u e s t i o n s

w e r e u s e d . T h e s e w e r e a s f o l l o w s :

1 44 I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f P r o je c t M a n a g e m e n t

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S SC OT T

T a b l e

1 . Delay

c l a im s f r e q u e n cy o f o c c u r r e n c e a n d a w a r d

S h o r t d e s c r ip t i o n o f q u e s t i o n A v e r a g e r e s p o n s e s

E n g i n e e r C o n t r a c t o r

P e r c e n ta g e o f c o n t r a c t s o n w h i c h e x te n s i o n -o f - ti m e c l a i m s w i t h s u p p o r t i n g

e v id e n c e a r e su b m i t t e d 6 0 7 0

O n t h e s e c o n t r ac t s , a v e r ag e n u m b e r o f e x t e n s i o n - o f- t i m e c l a i m s m a d e T w o , m a y b e r o l le d i n t o O n e c l a im , d e l a y s l u m p e d

o n e c l a i m t o g e t h e r

Pe r c e n t a g e o f e x t e n s io n - o f - tim e c la im s m a d e w i th o u t su b s e q u e n t a t t e m p t

to r e c o v e r o v e r h e a d s 1 0 o r l e ss Ve r y f e w

Ho w o f t e n e x t e n s io n - o f - t im e c l a im s g r a n t e d : T im e , C o s t , T im e , C o s t ,

In full 13 6 10 0

I n p a r t 7 1 7 6 7 0 9 5

Ho w o f t e n a r e a c c e l e r a t i o n c l a im s wi th su p p o r t i n g e v id e n c e p r e se n t e d ? R a r e 2 6

H o w o f t e n a r e s u c h c l a i m s g r a nt e d ? M o r e t h a n 5 0 7 0

Ho w f r e q u e n t ly , i f e v e r , a r e l i q u id at e d d a m a g e s d e d u c t e d ? R a r e R a r e

P l e a se s t a te o n w h a t p e r c e n ta g e o f c o n t r a c t s e x t e n s i o n

o f t i m e c l ai m s w i t h s u p p o r t i n g e v i d e n c e a r e s u b m i t t e d .

O n t h e se c o n t r a c t s, w h a t is t h e a v e r a g e n u m b e r o f

e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e c l a i m s m a d e ?

F o r t h e f ir s t q u e s t i o n , m o s t r e s p o n s e s f r o m b o t h e n g i n e e r s

a n d c o n t r a c t o r s in d i c a te d a f ig u re o f 5 0 o r m o r e , a n d ,

f r o m T a b l e 1 , i t c a n b e s e e n th a t t h e a v e r a g e p e r c e n t a g e

w a s 6 0 a n d 7 0 , r e sp e c ti v e ly . O n t h e s e c o n d q u e s ti o n ,

b o t h c o n t r a c t o r s a n d e n g in e e rs s ai d t h a t d i f f e re n t c a u s e s

o f d e l a y w e re o f t e n l u m p e d t o g e t h e r i n t o o n e c l a i m ,

a l t h o u g h t h e e n g i n ee r s a ls o g a v e a n a v e r a g e f i g u r e o f t w o

c a u s e s o f c l a im p e r c o n t r a c t .

T o i d e n t if y th e f r e q u e n c y w i t h w h i c h c l a im s a r e

p a i d , t w o q u e s t i o n s w e r e a g a i n u s e d . T h e f i r s t q u e s t i o n

a d d r e s s e s t h e p o s s i b i l it y t h a t s o m e e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e

c l ai m s m a y b e s u b m i t t e d w i t h o u t a n y s u b s e q u e n t a t t e m p t

t o r e c o v e r o v e r h e a d s , t h a t i s, t h a t t h e c o n t r a c t o r r e q u e s t s

a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e p u r e l y to d e l a y t h e p o i n t a t w h i c h

l i q u i d a te d d a m a g e s m a y b e d e d u c t e d . T h i s q u e s t i o n w a s

p h r a s e d a s f o l l o w s :

D o y o u e v e r s u b m i t c l a i m s f o r e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e o n l y ,

i .e . w i t h o u t t h e n o r l a t e r f o l l o w i n g u p w i t h a c l a i m f o r

o v e r h e a d c o s t s ?

R e s p o n s e s f r o m b o t h e n g i n e e r s a n d c o n t r a c t o r s w e r e

i n a g r e e m e n t i n r e c o r d i n g t h a t t h i s s i t u a t i o n o c c u r s a t

b e s t i n f r e q u e n t ly . C o n t r a c t o r s a l m o s t a l w a y s b a c k u p

t h e s e c l a im s w i t h a r e q u e s t f o r t h e c o s t o f f i n a n c i n g t h e

e x t e n s i o n c l a i m e d . G i v e n t h a t t h e c l a i m s g e n e r a l l y

c o n s i s t o f t w o e l e m e n t s : a c l a i m f o r t i m e a n d a c l a i m

f o r o v e r h e a d c o s t s, t h e s e c o n d q u e s t i o n w a s f r a m e d t o

i d e n t i f y t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e se w e r e a c c e p t e d . T h e

q u e s t i o n w a s a s f o l l o w s :

O f t h e c l a i m s f o r e x t e n s io n o f ti m e a n d o v e r h e a d c o s t s

s u b m i t t e d w i t h s u p p o r t i n g e v i d e n c e , h o w o f t e n a r e t h e se

g r a n t e d :

t i m e c o s t s

in ful l

i n p a r t

T h e a v e r a g e fi g u re s q u o t e d b y b o t h e n g i n e e r s a n d

c o n t r a c t o r s o n t h i s q u e s t i o n w e r e f a i r l y c o n s i s t e n t . I t

a p p e a r s t h a t t h e l i k e l i h o o d t h a t a l l t h e c o s t s c i t e d i n s u c h

c l a i m s w i ll b e p a i d is v e r y s m a l l ( 0 - 6 ) . T h e l ik e l i h o o d

t h a t a l l t h e t i m e d e m a n d e d w i l l b e a w a r d e d i s s l i g h t l y

h i g h e r , b u t i s s ti ll o n l y i n t h e r a n g e 1 0 - 1 3 . P a r t i a l

p a y m e n t , o r t h e a c c e p t a n c e o f a r i g h t t o a n e x t e n s i o n ,

w a s s e t m u c h h i g h e r t h a n t h i s , w i t h f ig u r e s o f 7 0 - 9 5 .

I t s ee m s t h a t m o s t c l a i m s t h a t a r e t a k e n s e r io u s l y b y

t h e c o n t r a c t o r a n d s u b m i t t e d w i t h b a c k u p a r e li k e ly t o

s u c c e e d , a t l e a s t i n p a r t .

H o w o f t e n a re a c c e l e r a t i o n c la i m s w i t h s u p p o r t i n g

e v i d e n c e p r e s e n t e d ?

T h i s q u es t io n p r o d u c e d a n u m b e r o f c o m m e n t s , m a i n l y

f r o m c o n t r a c t o r s . T h e s e w e r e a s f o l l o w s :

' A c c e l e r a t i o n c l a i m s a r e m a i n l y t h e r e s u l t o f l i a b il i ty

l a t e r a c c e p t e d b y t h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r ' ( i . e . a n

i n i ti a l c la i m f o r a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e i s r e f u s e d , a n d

a c c e p t e d a t a l a t e r d a t e , b y w h i c h t i m e t h e c o n t r a c t o r

h a s a c c e l e r a t e d h i s / h e r w o r k ) .

' W e d o n ' t v o l u n t a r i l y a c c e l e r a t e e v e n th o u g h i n s t r u c t e d

t o d o s o b y t h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r ( m o s t c o n t r a c t o r s

i g n o r e s u c h i n s t r u c t io n s ) - - w e o n l y v o l u n t a r i l y

a c c e l e r a te i f i t is o u r o w n p r o b l e m ' .

' T h e a s - b u il t p r o g r a m m e i s t h e a c c e le r a te d p r o g r a m m e ;

t h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r c o u l d i n s t r u c t a c c e l e r a t i o n ' .

T h e o n l y c o m m e n t m a d e i n a n e n g i n e e r' s i nt e rv i ew

w a s t h a t i t w o u l d b e n e c e s s a r y t o c h a n g e t h e n a m e o f

t h e c l a i m t o a d i s r u p t i o n c l a i m f o r t h e s u p e r v i s i n g

e n g i n e e r t o p a y i t. T h e r e a p p e a r s t o b e s o m e u n c e r t a i n t y

a s t o t h e g r o u n d r u l e s f o r s u c h c l a i m s , a n d t h i s i s

p o s s i b ly a r e s u l t o f th e f a c t t h a t t h e y m a y b e q u i t e r a r e.

I n d e e d , t h a t is w h a t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e e n g i n e e r s sa i d

i n a n s w e r t o t h i s q u e s t i o n . T h e c o n t r a c t o r s ' r e s p o n s e s

p r o d u c e d a m e a n v a l u e o f 2 6 . C o u l d t h e r e b e so m e

d i s a g r e e m e n t a s t o e x a c t l y w h a t c o n s t i t u t e s a n a c c e l e r -

a t i o n c l a i m i n t h e m i n d s o f s u p e r v i s in g e n g i n e e r s a n d

c o n t r a c t o r s ?

W h e n a s k e d t o s a y h o w o f t e n a c c e l e r a t io n c la i m s a re

g r a n t e d , m o s t r e s p o n d e n t s r e li e d o n e x p e r i e n c e o f a v e r y

f e w su c h c l a im s , a n d s o m e h a d n e v e r b e e n i n v o l v e d in

o n e . T h e g e n e r a l f e e li n g w a s t h a t t h e s e c la i m s w o u l d b e

g r a n t e d i n m o s t c a s e s. O n e e n g i n e e r r e s p o n d e n t s a i d t h a t

t h e c o n t r a c t o r w o u l d n o t s u b m i t s u c h a c l a i m u n l es s h e /

s h e h a d a g o o d c a s e . H e / s h e w o u l d f i n d s o m e a l t e rn a t i v e

m e t h o d o f c la i m i n g .

V o l 1 1 N o 3 A u g u s t 1 9 93 1 4 5

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Dealing with delay claims a survey

If the contractor on a project fails to complete within

the original or extended time for completion, the

employer typically has the right to deduct l iquidated

damages for each day/week for which the project is late.

Such damages are usually written into a construction

contract, but it is not generally known to what extent

this right is ever invoked. A question put to both

engineers and contractors to determine this information

met with a similar response. The question was as follows.

How frequently, if ever, are liquidated damages deducted?

Some interviewees had never had any experience of

liquidated damages being deducted, but others confirmed

that it did happen, albeit very rarely. In all but one

instance, figures quoted to define the frequency of deduc-

tion were 10 or lower. It is not surprising, then, tha t

some sections of the industry are under the impression

that these damages are never collected.

P r e p a r a t i o n a s s e s s m e n t o f c l a i m s

A review of the literature of this area of contract

administration shows that much of what has been

written concerns the difficulty of assessing a co ntractor 's

claims for delay and disruption. In the USA, an under-

standing has developed of a generalized approach to

dealing with such problems, as reported by Wickwire

and Smith ~, but there appears to be no comparable

approach in the UK that is detailed in UK texts. The US

approach involves the preparation of full 'as-built' records

of exactly when the various activities in the project took

place, and when delays were effective. From this inform-

ation, a judgment is made on the right to extensions of

time by pulling out the delays for which the employer

is responsible, and assessing how long the contractor

would have taken to complete the job in the absence of

these delays.

Under the UK Institution of Civil Engineers Condi-

tions of Contract2 regarding claims for extensions of

time, the supervising engineer is required to '... make

an assessment of the extension of time (if any) to which

he considers the contractor entitled for the completion

of the works...'. He/she must do this in a fair manner.

Exactly how this is to be done, however, is left to the

supervising engineer to decide. Texts relating to the U K

experience suggest that the application of the critical-

path method makes for a more just solution, but they

usually only give very simplistic examples to back this

u p

The supervising engineer thus has little supporting

material to guide him/her in his/her deliberations on

such problems. In the absence of any substantial legal

precedent or recognized procedures, it is suggested that

the views of other professionals working in this field may

be the most useful guide that can be provided here. With

this in mind, those questions addressed to both con-

tractors and engineers specifically concerning the prep-

aration and assessment of claims are analysed. If general

areas of common agreement between these two main

parties can be recognized and accepted, this may help to

simplify the deliberations on some of these complicated

claims situations that have been found to occur so

frequently.

T a b l e 2 A s s e s s m e n t o f c l a i m s : g e n e r a l p r in c ip l es

D e c i s i o n E n g i n e e r C o n t r a c t o r

A l l E n g i n e e r R E A l l A g e n t Q S

T h e r e i s n o p o i n t i n m a k i n g a c l a im f o r e x t e n d e d o v e r h e a d c o s t s u n le s s

t h e t i m e f o r c o m p l e t i o n i s l i k e l y t o b e e x c e e d e d

A g r e e

Dis ag r ee 11 7 4 11 5 6

O t h e r

I f t he con t rac t p rogra mm e (c lause 14 ) shows comp le t ion in 18 mon ths ,

and the c on t rac tor ac tua l l y comple t es i n 18 mon ths , no ex t ende d overhead

c o s t s c a n e v e r b e j u s t i f i e d

A g r e e 2 1 I

D i s a g r e e 8 5 3 1 1 5 6

O t h e r 1 1

I f t h e e n g i n e er a w a r d s a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e w i t h o u t c o s t s f o r a d e l a y

a t t r ibu t ed to excep t iona l adver se wea ther , t h i s p reven t s t he con t rac tor

f r o m j u s t i f y i n g a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e w h r e c o v e r y o f o v e rh e a d c o s t s f o r

t h e s a m e p e r i o d

A g r e e 4 3 1 2 2

D i s a g r e e 6 3 3 9 5 4

O t h e r 1 1

Provid ing the engineer never actua l ly instructs the contractor to accelerate,

no acce l era t ion c la im can be j u s t i f i ed

A g r e e 3 3 3 2 1

D i s a g r e e 7 4 3 7 2 5

O t h e r

I 1 1 1

General principles

As a first and rather crude attempt to determine attitudes

in this area, four statements were presented to the inter-

viewees. They were asked to say whether they agreed or

disagreed with the statements, and invited to comment

as they wished. The statements were selected, in part

to check whether certain principles discussed and

pronounced on in the literature were generally accepted

by the profession, but also to test out attitudes on

matters that have not been so widely considered. The

aim here, as in other parts of this section, is not only to

record and analyse decisions, but also to try to ascertain

on what basis such decisions are made. The results and

comments made on each statement are considered in

turn, and, to assist this process, the statements and

results have been tabulated in Table 2.

The first question suggests that a claim for extended

overhead costs should not succeed unless the time for

completion is likely to be exceeded. Opposing viewpoints

may be found in the literature. Support for the view

is recorded by Powell-Smith and Stephenson3, although

the view is rejected by Abrahamson4. The interviewees,

both engineers and contractors, were unequivocal in their

disagreement with this statement. Only two comments

were made: one by an engineer, who stated that a con-

tractor may be due an extension of time even if he/she

can still finish on time, and the other by a contractor,

stating that the time for completion affects only liquidated

damages. Whatever the views of writers and commenta-

tors on this issue, the industry appears to be quite clear

as to its opinion.

In the second statement, if a contractor's programme

shows completion in 18 months , and he/she actually com-

pletes in that time, the statement says that no extended

overhead costs can ever be justified. The supposition

behind this statement is that, having expected to pay

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S S OTT

overheads for the 18-month period, even if he/she could

have completed in (say) 16 months, but was delayed by

two months by the employer, the contrac tor has suffered

no loss. He/she has only had to pay overheads for the

time he/she expected to have to pay them. All the con-

tractor responses disagreed with this view. This might

have been expected, but a major ity of the engineer

responses were against it too. Some of the comments

made show that some respondents would have con-

sidered not extended overhead costs, but additional

overhead costs for the 18-month period occasioned by

any additional work instructed by the supervising engin-

eer. There still, however, seems to be a general distrust

of the logic supporting this statement. A similar scenario

is shown in Figure 1.

The suggestion contained in the third statement

resulted from a discussion with a resident supervising

engineer during a visit to one of the sites on which the

preparatory work for the questionnaires was being con-

ducted. He related that, in the past, he had been involved

in a contract on which the supervising engineer had taken

the initiative to award an extension of time without costs

as a result of exceptionally adverse weather. This had

been done specifically to prevent the contractor from

claiming an extension of time with costs for some cause

that was the employer's responsibility. Irrespective of the

rights or wrongs of such action, this situation raises the

general issue of alternative critical paths and parallel

delays, and, for this reason, was felt to be worthy of

inclusion. Among the engineers, 60 disagreed, and

made comments suggesting that this would be somehow

underhand, while 40 agreed, some of these believing

that the contractor would find another way to recover

his/her costs. The contractors were much more strongly

opposed to this statement, with 82 disagreeing, and

only 18 agreeing. The comments made, however, did

not particularly attempt to disprove the statement, but

were general accounts of views on dealing with weather

in claims situations. Although the question is a rather

complex one, it was surprising that none of the com-

ments anticipated the possibility that a further extension

of time beyond the first might be awarded, this time with

costs. Also, the chance that another parallel path through

the network, much delayed by the employer, might super-

sede the impact of the path on which the weather delay

occurred was not considered. Is it possible that delays

to the contract are not seen, or perhaps not considered,

in this way?

The final question concerns acceleration claims, and

states that, providing the supervising engineer never

actually instructs the contractor to accelerate, no acceler-

ation claim can be justified. The responses from both

contractors and engineers were identical, with 70 of

the responses disagreeing with the statement, and 30

agreeing. The comments showed a recognition by the

majority of the possibility of what is sometimes known

as 'constructive acceleration'. That is, if the supervising

engineer fails to award a properly deserved extension of

time during the period of the works, the contractor speeds

up to complete within the original time for completion,

and the supervising engineer later decides that the

extension should actually be awarded. In such a case, the

contractor has no need for the late extension, but may

have suffered additional costs as a result of having to

complete work at a faster rate than was reasonable. Such

costs should be recoverable by the contractor because

he/she had to accelerate, even though no specific order

to accelerate was given. This is a generally recognized

scenario, and perhaps the reason for a number of the

respondents not identifying it results from the fact that

so few acceleration claims are made.

peci f ic eases

As an alternative means of shedding light on the way in

which professionals in the industry consider delay claims,

it was decided to try to describe fully some particular

outcomes of contracts, and to ask the respondents to

recommend solutions. This was the approach used in

both questions in this section, although different methods

were used. In the first question, the whole scenario was

described in words, while in the second question, four

diagrams were drawn to chronicle the outcomes of four

contracts.

In the first question, the interviewee was asked to

make a decision on extension-of-time matters part of the

way through a contract on the basis of the following

statement.

Six months into the contract, it is clear that the employer

has delayed a part of the works in such a way that the

whole of the contract will be delayed by two months. The

time for completion is 24 months, and the contractor's

original programme showed completion in 20 months.

What should the contractor do?

78 of the engineers said that the contractor should

request an extension of time, and the rest said that he/she

should claim for a delay with costs. Of the contractor

responses, 60 said tha t the contractor should claim for

an extension of time, and 40 said that he/she should

claim for delay, and not an extension of time.

It is clear from the figures that, at the point of

consideration, no extension of time is needed. However,

if the contractor were to allow his/her programme to slip,

or further delays occurred, the situation would change.

An extension of time might then be necessary to defray

the deduction o f liquidated damages. This fact was clearly

understood by the respondents, some of whom added

very interesting comments, as follows:

'Claim extension of time - - 20 months is the new time

for completion (we allow the contractor to decide the

time for completion)' (engineer).

'Ask for extension of time (some contractors make a

statement on their programme pointing to the time

between their early completion and the contract time

for completion and stating this to be a 'period for use

by the cont ractor for circumstances other than entitle-

ment to extension of time')' (engineer).

In assessing the effects of a delay part of the way through

a contract, the supervising engineer must attempt to

predict how the contract will proceed in the future. For

some delays, where (say) the whole site is brought to a

standstill as a result of the employer's actions, the ef fect

on the completion of the whole project is undeniable.

However, if the delay is not so wide-ranging, and yet, at

the time, it appears that it will necessarily delay the whole

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Dealing with delay cla ims: a surve y

p r o j e c t, a l a te r as s es s m en t m i g h t p r o v e t h a t a n o t h e r p a t h

t h r o u g h t h e n e t w o r k h a s b e c o m e c r i ti c a l. T h i s s e c o n d

p a t h m i g h t t h e n c o n t r o l t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e p r o j e c t ,

a n d m i g h t o n l y c o n ta i n w i t h in i t d e l a y s f o r w h i c h t h e

c o n t r a c t o r i s r e s p o n s i b l e . I n s u c h a s i t u a t i o n , a w a r d i n g

a n e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e, r a t h e r t h a n s i m p l y r e c o g n i z i n g a

d e l a y f o r w h i c h t h e e m p l o y e r i s r e s p o n s i b l e a n d t h a t c o u l d

l e ad t o a n e x t e n si o n o f t im e , m i g h t l o s e t h e e m p l o y e r t h e

r i g h t t o d e d u c t l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s . T h e r e c o g n i t i o n o f

a f u n d a m e n t a l d e l a y t o t h e p r o j e c t r a t h e r t h a n t h e a w a r d -

i n g o f a n e x t e n s io n o f t im e , h o w e v e r , w a s n o t f a v o u r e d

b y m o s t s u p e rv i si n g e ng i n e e rs . I t a p p e a r s t h a t s u c h d e l a y s

t e n d t o b e c l o s e ly li n k e d t o i d e a s o f e x t e n s i o n s o f t i m e .

I n t h e s e c o n d q u e s t i o n , t h e i n t e n t i o n w a s t o i l l u s t r a t e

a f e w s i m p l e y e t i n t e r e s ti n g s c e n a r i o s t h a t m i g h t h a v e

t o b e d e a l t w i t h i n c l a i m s s i t u a t i o n s . T i m e - s c a l e d C P M

d i a g r a m s w e r e u s e d f o r t h is p u r p o s e . A l t h o u g h t h e

s i m p l e s t c a s e s w e r e c h o s e n , i t w a s s ti ll f o u n d n e c e s s a r y

t o c l a ri f y a n u m b e r o f p o i n t s . F o r t h i s r e a s o n , a c h e c k l i s t

w a s d e v e l o p e d t o h e lp e x p l a in t h e d i a g r a m s b e f o r e t h e y

w e r e s h o w n t o t h e i n te r v ie w e e . T h e p o i n t s o n t h e c h e c k l i st

wer e a s f o l l ows :

F o r e a c h ca s e, tw o d i a g r a m s a r e s h o w n : o n e s h o w i n g

t h e c o n t r a c t o r 's o r i g in a l p r o g r a m m e

planned),

a n d o n e

s h o w i n g t h e a c t u a l 'a s - b u i lt ' r e c o r d o f w o r k actual) .

T h e d i a g r a m s u s e t i m e - sc a l e d a c t i v i t y - o n - a r r o w f o r m a t ,

i n w h i c h t h e f o l lo w i n g s y m b o l s a r e u s e d . A r e c t a n g l e

w i t h r o u n d e d e n d s o r a c i r c l e r e p r e s e n t a n e v e n t . A

doubl e a r r ow i nd i ca t e s a c r i t i ca l ac t i v i t y , a s i ng l e a r r ow

a n a c t i v i t y , a n d a d o t t e d l i n e a f l o a t . A r e c t a n g l e w i t h

a C o v e r it m e a n s a d e l a y t h a t i s t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , a n E o n e t h a t i s t h e e m p l o y e r ' s r e s p o n -

s i b i l i t y , a n d a n N o n e t h a t i s t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f

n e i t h e r p a r t y .

I t i s a s s u m e d t h r o u g h o u t t h a t t h e e x is t e n c e o f o n e d e l a y

h a s n o t a f f e c te d th e d u r a t i o n o r t i m i n g o f s u b s e q u e n t

d e l a y s . F o r i n s t a n c e , i f t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n s i te is n o t

a v a i la b l e a t th e s t a r t o f t h e w o r k s , a n y c o n t r a c t o r

d e l a y m a y b e a r e su l t o f t h e c o n t r a c t o r h o l d i n g b a c k

h is p r e p a r a t i o n s . S u c h e f f e c ts a r e a s s u m e d n o t t o h a v e

o c c u r r e d .

I t is t o b e a s s u m e d t h a t n o a c c e l e r a t i o n h a s t a k e n

p l ace .

I n e a c h c a s e , t h e i n t e r v i e w e e ' s v i e w s a r e s o u g h t o n

t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s r i g h ts t o a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e , t h e

r e c o v e r y o f o v e r h e a d c o s ts , a n d t h e e m p l o y e r ' s r i g h ts

t o d e d u c t l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s .

T h e a c t u a l d i a g r a m s u s e d d u r i n g t h e i n t e r v i e w s w e r e

A 3 - s iz e d . T h e s e a r e s h o w n i n F i g u r e s 1 - 4 . S u m m a r i e s o f

t h e r e s u l t s a r e g i v e n i n T a b l e s 3 - 6 .

I n F i g u r e 1 , t h e t im e f o r c o m p l e t i o n i s f o u r w e e k s ,

t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s p r o g r a m m e s h o w s h i m f i n i s h i n g i n f o u r

w e e k s , a n d h e a c t u a l l y fi n is h e s i n f o u r w e e k s , e v e n t h o u g h

t h e e m p l o y e r h a s d e l a y e d h i m f o r o n e w e e k . T h e r e is

c l e a rl y n o n e e d f o r a n y l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s t o b e d e -

d u c t e d , a n d a ll t he r e s p o n d e n t s a g r e e d o n t h is . A l t h o u g h

n o e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e is r e q u i r e d t o d e f r a y t h e d e d u c t i o n

o f d a m a g e s , a l m o s t 5 0 o f t h e e n g i n e e r s a n d 4 0 o f

t h e c o n t r a c t o r s f e lt t h a t o n e s h o u l d b e a w a r d e d . A s t o

w h e t h e r o v e r h e a d c o s t s s h o u l d b e p a i d t o t h e c o n t r a c t o r ,

m a j o r i t ie s o f b o t h t h e e n g i n e e r s a n d t h e c o n t r a c t o r s

f a v o u r e d p a y i n g o v e r h e a d c o s t s f o r o n e w e e k .

T i me f o r c omp l e t ion

1

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2 5

; < )

Weeks

E

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Figure 1. De lay -cla im scenario I; a) planned, C o)actual

[ a) T h e w h o l e p r o j e c t c o n s i s t s o f o n e a c t i v it y a . b ) A t t h e e n d o f t h e

s e c o n d w e e k , w o r k i s s u s p e n d e d f o r o n e w e e k e m p l o y e r - r e s p o n s i b le

d e l a y ) , b u t t h e c o n t r a c t o r s t i l l c o m p l e t e s o n t i m e . ]

T h i s c a s e h a s p a r a ll e l s w i th b o t h t h e s e c o n d s t a t e m e n t

i n t h e f i r st s e c t i o n , a n d w i t h t h e f i r st q u e s t i o n i n t h i s

s e c t i o n . I n t h e s e c o n d s t a t e m e n t , e v e n t h o u g h t h e

c o n t r a c t o r h a d a l lo w e d f o r t h e a m o u n t o f o v e rh e a d s t h a t

Time for complet ion

2

)

4 Weeks

)

Figure 2 . De lay-cla im scenario 2; a) p lanned , b) actual

[(a) The whole project consists of one a ctivity a. (b) Work cannot start

until the end of the second week wh en the site becom es available.

How ever, the contractor is not ready to start until the end of the first

week. The p roject is c omp leted two weeks late.]

)

1 48 I n t e r n a t io n a l J o u r n a l o f P r o je c t M a n a g e m e n t

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o

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Figure 3 . De lay-c laim scenario 3; a) planned, b) ac tual

[ a ) T h e wh o le p r o j e c t c o n s i s t s o f two a c t i v i t i e s a a n d b t h a t c a n

p r o c e e d s im u l t a n e o u s ly . W h e n th e y a r e b o th c o m p le t e , t h e p r o j e c t i s

c o m p l e t e. b ) D e l a y s d u e t o th e e m p lo y e r E ) a n d t h e c o n t r a c t o r C )

r e su l t i n t h e p r o j e c t b e in g c o m p le t e d two we e k s l a t e . ]

S SCOTT

i T im e fo r comp le t ion >~

0 I 2 3 4

8

ee ks

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Figure 4 . De lay-c la im scenario 4; a) planned, b) ac tual

[ a ) T h e wh o le p r o j e c t c o n s i s t s o f two a c t i v i t i e s a a n d b t h a t c a n

p r o c e e d s i m u l t a n e o u s l y. W h e n t h e y a r e b o t h c o m p l e t e , th e p r o j e c t i s

c o m p l e t e . b ) D e l a y s d u e t o t h e c o n t r a c t o r C ) a n d to n e it h e r p a r t y N )

r e su l t i n t h e p r o j e c t b e in g c o m p le t e d tw o we e k s l a t e . ]

T a b l e 3 . R e su l t s f o r d e l a y - c l a im sc e n a rio 1

N u m b e r

o f w e e k s E n g in e e r s C o n t r a c t o r s

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T a b le 5 . R e su l t s f o r d e l a y - c l a im sc e n a r io 3

N u m b e r

o f w e e k s E n g i n e e rs C o n t r a c t o r s

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T a b le 6 . R e su l t s f o r d e l a y - c l a im scenario

N u m b e r

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T a b le 4 . R e su l t s f o r d e l a y - c l a im sc e n a r io 2

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h e / s h e ev e n t u a l l y h a d t o p a y , t h e c o n s e n s u s s e e m e d t o b e

t h a t h e / s h e o u g h t t o b e r e i m b u r s e d t h e o v e r h e a d s f o r

a n y t i m e f o r w h i c h t h e e m p l o y e r h a d d e l a y e d h i m / h e r .

This re su l t i s repea ted he re . In the f i r s t ques t ion in th i s

s e c ti o n , m o s t r e s p o n d e n t s f e l t t h a t a n e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e

s h o u l d b e a w a r d e d , r a t h e r t h a n s i m p l y a d e l a y b e i n g

r e c o g n i z e d f o r w h i c h t h e e m p l o y e r w a s r e s p o n s i b l e . I n

s o m e w h a t s i m i l a r c i r c u m s t a n c e s , b u t w h e r e t h e r e w a s

o b v i o u s l y n o n e e d f o r a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e , a n u m b e r

o f in t e r v ie w e e s st il l w a n t e d o n e t o b e a w a r d e d . T h e r e

a p p e a r s t o b e a l in k a g e in m a n y o f t h e r e s p o n d e n t s '

m i n d s b e t w e e n s u c h d e l a y s a n d e x t e n s i o n s o f t i m e . T h i s

i g n o r e s a n y p o s s i b il i ty t h a t o v e r h e a d s m a y b e r e c o v e r e d

w i t h o u t s u c h a n e x t e n s i o n .

T h e r e m a i n i n g d i a g r a m s s h o w a v a r i e t y o f w a y s i n

w h i c h o v e r l a p p i n g d e l a y s m i g h t a f f e c t a p r o j e c t ' s o u t -

c o m e . T h e f i r s t o f t h e se , s h o w n i n F i g u r e 2 , c o n t a i n s

t w o d e l a y s o f ty p e s E a n d C t h a t b o t h a f f e c t a s i n g le

a c t i v it y a. A l m o s t a l l o f t h o s e i n t e r v i e w e d r e p l i e d t h a t n o

l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s s h o u l d b e d e d u c t e d , w i t h m a j o r i t i e s

o f b o t h t h e e ng i ne e rs a n d c o n t r a c t o r s r e c o m m e n d i n g

a 2 - w e ek e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e . T h e p o s i t i o n o n t h e r e c o v e r y

o f o v e r h e a d s , h o w e v e r , w a s n o t s o c l e a r- c u t . M o s t

e n g i n e e rs f el t t h a t o v e r h e a d c o s t s s h o u l d b e p a i d f o r o n e

w e e k o n l y , w h i l e 6 0 o f t h e c o n t r a c t o r s f e lt t h a t t w o

w e e k s ' o v e r h e a d c o s t s s h o u l d b e p a y a b l e . T h e e n g i n e e r ' s

v i ew i n t h i s ca s e is i d e n t ic a l t o t h e s o l u t i o n t h a t w o u l d

a p p l y i f t h e U S a p p r o a c h t o t h e s e m a t t e r s w a s a d o p t e d ,

t h a t i s, a 2 - w e e k e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e s h o u l d b e a w a r d e d ,

b u t o v e r h e a d c o s t s s h o u l d b e p a y a b l e f o r o n l y o n e o f

t h o s e w e e k s. F u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e c o n t r a c t o r s '

r e s p o n s e s h o w e d t h a t t h e q u a n t i t y s u r v e y o r s ' r e s p o n s e s

w e r e e q u a l ly s p li t b e tw e e n o n e a n d t w o w e e k s ' o v e r h e a d

r e c o v e ry , w i t h t h e a g e n t s b e i n g b u l l i s h a b o u t t h e i r r i g h t s

t o t w o w e e k s ' o v e r h e a d s .

F i g u r e 3 is s im i l a r t o F i g u r e 2 , i n t h a t i t c o n t a i n s t w o

d e l a y s o f t y p e s E a n d C , a l t h o u g h t h e y a f f e c t d i f f e r e n t

ac t iv i t i e s . The de lays a re , in fac t , on pa ra l l e l pa ths . The

r e s p o n s e w a s u n a n i m o u s t h a t n o l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s

s h o u l d b e d e d u c t e d , a n d n e a r l y u n a n i m o u s t h a t a t w o

w e e k s ' e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e s h o u l d b e a w a r d e d . I t w a s l e ss

c o n c l u s iv e i n r e l a ti o n t o t h e a m o u n t o f o v e r h e a d s t h a t

s h o u l d b e r e c o v e r e d , b u t m o s t e n g i n e e r s a n d c o n t r a c t o r s

s t i l l t h o u g h t t h a t t h e s e s h o u l d b e p a i d f o r t w o w e e k s .

I f a n a d j u s t e d s c h e d u l e w e r e t o b e c o n s t r u c t e d f o r t h i s

s i t u a t i o n , i n l i n e w i t h t h e U S a p p r o a c h , b y r e m o v i n g

t h e e m p l o y e r - r e s p o n s i b l e d e l a y s , i t w o u l d s ho w . t h a t t h e

c o n t r a c t o r , i n t h e a b s e n c e o f t y p e - E d e l a y s , w o u l d n o t

b e a b l e t o c o m p l e t e t h e p r o j e c t o n t i m e . H e / s h e w o u l d

b e o n e w e e k b e y o n d t h e t i m e f o r c o m p l e t io n , a n d t h u s

s h o u l d , o n t h i s b a s i s , h a v e o n e w e e k o f l i q u i d a t e d

d a m a g e s d e d u c t e d . T h e o t h e r w e e k s h o u l d b e c o v e r e d b y

a n e x t e n s i o n o f t im e , f o r w h i c h o v e r h e a d c o s t s s h o u l d b e

p a i d . B o t h s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r s a n d c o n t r a c t o r s d i s -

agreed s t rong ly wi th th i s v iew, and s eem ed to have s im ply

i d e n t if i e d t h e c r i t ic a l p a t h , a n d m a d e t h e i r d e c i si o n s o n

t h e b a s i s o f t h e d e l a y s o n t h a t p a t h a l o n e .

T h e l a s t d i a g r a m , s h o w n i n F i g u r e 4 , a l s o c o n t a i n s

p a r a l le l d e l a y s, b u t t h e y a r e o f t y p e s C a n d N . A g a i n , a

m a j o r i t y v i e w c a n b e d e f i n e d f o r b o t h e n g i n e e r s a n d

c o n t r a c t o r s . T h i s i s t h a t t h e r e s h o u l d b e a n e x t e n s i o n

o f t i m e f o r o n e w e e k , l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s s h o u l d b e

d e d u c t e d f o r o n e w e e k , a n d t h e r e s h o u l d b e n o r e c o v e r y

o f o v e r h e a d s a t a l l . A n a l t e r n a t i v e v i e w is t h a t , a s t h e

c o n t r a c t o r d e l a y e d t h e c o n t r a c t b y t w o w e e k s b y h is o w n

a c t i o n s , a n d f i n i s h e d t w o w e e k s l a t e, h e s h o u l d b e t o t a l l y

r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h i s d e l a y . B y t h i s a r g u m e n t , h e s h o u l d

h a v e t w o w e e k s ' l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s d e d u c t e d . T h e

r e s p o n d e n t s w e r e , h o w e v e r , m o r e g e n e r o u s t h a n t h i s .

T h e y c l e a r l y f e l t t h a t t h e c o n t r a c t o r s h o u l d b e n e f i t f r o m

t h e f a c t t h a t a n ' a c t - o f - G o d ' t y p e o f d e l a y w o u l d h a v e

p r e v e n t e d h i m f r o m c o m p l e t in g o n t i m e , h a d h e n o t b e en

d e l a y e d h i m s e lf . D e p e n d i n g o n w h i c h m e t h o d o f d e a li n g

w i t h c o n c u r r e n t d e l a y s w e r e a d o p t e d , t h e U S r e s p o n s e

o n s u c h a n o u t c o m e w o u l d b e e it h e r t h a t r e c o m m e n d e d

b y t h e m a j o r i t y o f r e s p o n d e n t s i n t h i s s u r v e y , o r t h e

a l t e r n a t i v e v i e w e x p r e s s e d .

C o m p a r i n g t h e r e s p o n s e s g i v e n b y s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n -

ee rs wi th those g iven by REs , l i tt l e d i f fe rence in the i r ove r -

a l l a t t i t u d e s t o t h e s e p r o b l e m s c o u l d b e d i s t i n g u i s h e d .

O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , a l t h o u g h t h e r e w a s n o g r e a t g u l f

b e t w e e n t h e o p i n i o n s o f t h e a g e n ts a n d t h o s e o f t h e

q u a n t i t y s u r v e y o r s , t h e e x p e c t a t io n s o f t h e q u a n t i t y

s u r v e y o r s t e n d e d t o b e g e n e r a l l y l o w e r t h a n t h e a g e n t s '

e x p e c t a t i o n s .

Claims procedure

T h i s s e c t i o n c o l l e c t s t h e r e s p o n s es t o t h e q u e s t i o n s w h o s e

p u r p o s e w a s t o i d e n t i f y p a r t i c u l a r p r o c e d u r e s a d o p t e d

b y b o t h t h e c o n t r a c t o r s a n d t h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r s

i n p r e p a r i n g a n d a s s es s i n g d e l a y c la i m s . T h r e e b a s i c

ques t ions were a sked . One was addres sed to the eng inee rs

o n l y , o n e w a s a d d r e s s e d t o b o t h t h e c o n t r a c to r s a n d t h e

e n g i n e e r s , a n d t h e t h i r d w a s a d d r e s s e d o n l y t o c o n t r a c -

t o r s . T h e f i rs t o f t h e s e w a s t h e m a i n q u e s t i o n , a s f o l l o w s .

W h a t p r o c e d u r e d o y o u a d o p t f o r as se s si n g th e v a l id i t y

o f c l a i m f o r a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e o n a c o m p l e x p r o j e c t ?

T h e r e s p o n s e s r e c e i v e d w e r e v a r i e d , a n d r a n g e d f r o m

Analyse evidence, compare with our records and make a

decision based on those facts.

to

Require de mon stration that delay has occurred, secondly that

delay was critical to completion date; gets very complicated

anything

but s t ra ightforward.

T h e r e w a s a g e n e r a l r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e n e e d t o c h e c k t h e

f a c t s a s p r e s e n t e d b y t h e c o n t r a c t o r a g a i n s t t h e R E ' s

r e c o r d s , b u t o t h e r p o i n t s m a d e w e r e a s f o l l o w s :

J u s t i f y t h a t t h e d e l a y s c o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n e x p ec t e d .

L o o k a t t h e c l a i m a s t h o u g h o n e w e r e m a k i n g i t

onese l f .

T r y t o e s t a b l i s h a n o t h e r o n e o r t w o w a y s t o e v a l u a t e

t h e c o s t o f t h e c l a i m t o g e t a f e e l f o r w h e r e t h e

s e t t l e m e n t f i g u r e s h o u l d l i e , a n d t h e n n e g o t i a t e w i t h

t h e c o n t r a c t o r .

I t i s d i f f i cu l t to spec i fy a gene ra l p roced ure ; i t depen ds

o n h o w t h e c l a i m i s p r e s e n t e d .

U s e t h e p r o g r a m m e , a s s e s s t h e l i n k s b e t w e e n t h e

a c t i v it i e s, a n d t a k e a c c o u n t o f fl o a t .

T r y t o a c c e p t t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s a p p r o a c h ; i f n o t , u s e

o n e ' s o w n m e t h o d s .

I n t h e b e l i e f t h a t t h i s f ir s t q u e s t i o n m i g h t n o t e l ic i t

r e s p o n s e s t h a t d i r e c t l y a d d r e s s e d t h e a c t u a l m e c h a n i s m

u s e d t o a f f i r m o r a s s e ss t h e i m p a c t o f i n d i v i d u a l d e l a y s ,

a s e c o n d , m o r e s p e ci f ic , q u e s t i o n w a s i n c l u d e d . T h i s w a s

1 50 I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f P r o je c t M a n a g e m e n t

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put to both the contractors and the engineers, and it was

as follows.

How do you show that/decide whether a delay to a par-

ticular activity has actually contributed towards delaying

the whole project?

64 of the engineers interviewed ment ione d the critical

path or critical activities in their replies, some of them

recognizing that it may not always be easy to identify

this path. Two respondents used the word 'shunting',

referring to subsequent activities in the project being

moved along by the effect of the delay in question. There

was certainly a general belief that, where this 'shunting'

occurred on the critical path, an extension of time might

well be justified. Other comments made referred to

the need to check for float on the path affected,

the possibility o f stalling to see if the path on which the

delay occurred was actually critical,

the fact that CPM programmes appear when such

claims are being made,

the fact that the programme should be used as a basis,

but then actual activities should be monitored, and

payment should only be agreed if real delay occurs,

the fact that criticality is judged from an understanding

of the sequence of activities,

the fact that, typically, the contractor identifies the

critical path and the engineer checks it.

The importance of critical paths and the shunting effect

of particular delays on activities on such paths were

also recognized by the contractors who answered this

question. Another important element was, however,

reported by 36 of the contractors that was not

mentioned by any of the engineers. This was the concept

of 'plugging' delays into the contract programme to

see their effects on the completion time. Some said that

they would use a software package for this. This is

particularly interesting, as it begins to appear that the

production of an 'as-built' programme is being described.

However, on further examination, this was seen not to

be the case. The contractors who used this approach

admitted that they would use the activity durations from

the original programme for this purpose, and make no

attempt to record the actual durations of the activities.

In fact, it was mentioned by one contractor that he

would extend actual delay durations used in this exercise

to those that would have occurred had he not increased

his resources to improve the situation. The contractors

explained their aim in using this approach as being to

demonstrate to the employer their 'entitl ement'. Having

plugged in the delays to the initial contract programme

in this way, they would expect to show a completion time

beyond what they actually needed. They managed to

complete before this time, they would argue, because

they had been particularly expeditious in carrying out the

contract. This would then be followed by the expectation

tha t the employer would pay their costs, possibly with an

element of profit.

In some circumstances, a large number of site

instructions might cause considerable disruption to a

contractor's performance. This might happen in such

a way that it was difficult for him/her to isolate and

S S OTT

deal with each delay individually. A question was posed

to contractors that described this scenario as follows.

How do you formulate claims when the disruption to

progress is due to the effects of a large number of site

instructions and it is not possible to separate individual

causes of delay?

40 of the responses stated tha t this would be dealt with

as a combination o f individual causes o f delay, with the

respondents effectively saying tha t they would be able to

isolate individual delay effects. The others recommended

amassing information on the value of the instructions

together with information on total costs. By showing the

monies spent in comparison with the expected spend-

ing profile, these contractors aimed to show that the

increased expenditure was due to the disruptive effect of

the instructions.

Cl ai ms mi sce l l an eou s

At the heart of the critical-path method of planning is the

idea that, a network of activities having been arranged

that represents the construction of a project, a longest

path through this network can be found that dictates

the minimum project time. This, of course, is the critical

path. At the planning stage, it is easy to identi fy this path

(there may be more than one), and to recognize its/their

significance. As soon as the project begins, this simple

model o f progress is likely to be found wanting. Activities

will not always start and continue uninterrupted to com-

pletion, the overlapping of activities not shown on the

plan will occur, and, of course, there will be delays from

the various sources. Can the essential critical path for the

project still be recognized and identified in such circum-

stances? There will obviously be some projects that, by

their nature, consist of one main sequence of activities,

where the critical path is likely to be unchanging. How-

ever, where the network is more complex, with a number

of parallel paths, the identification of any critical path

may well be more difficult.

With this understanding of the real situation con-

fronting site engineers, two questions were put to both

the engineers and the contractors. These were as follows.

Does the critical path through the project usually change

as construction proceeds? (Choice: yes/no/don't know)

Are you always able to identify the critical path for the

finished project? (Choice: yes/no/don't know)

The responses to the first question were inconclusive.

33 of the engineers said tha t the critical path usually

changed, while 56 said tha t it did not. Comments

varied from 'very rare', to 'often-not unusual'. In com-

plete contrast, 90/0 of the contractors confirmed that

the path did usually change. Their comments were 'oft en'

and 'sometimes', with one interviewee saying that he

could not think of a job where it had not changed. It is

clearly possible that the engineers and contractors had

been involved in different types of scheme, and that this

was the reason for the mismatch in their replies. How-

ever, as most of them were relying on their experiences

on a number of past schemes in answering the questions,

this is unlikely. Other explanat ions are possible. It might


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b e t h a t t h e t w o p a r t ie s h a v e d i f f e r e n t c o n c e p t i o n s o f

w h a t c o m p r i s e s a c r it ic a l p a t h o n a l i v e p r o j e c t , o r s i m p l y

t h a t d i f f e r e n t i n f o r m a t i o n i s a v a i l a b l e t o t h e m . I f th e

c r i t i c a l p a t h i s n o t i d e n t i f i e d o n t h e c o n t r a c t p r o g r a m m e ,

a s i t o f t e n i s n o t , h o w i s t h e e n g i n e e r t o k n o w w h e t h e r

i t h a s c h a n g e d ?

W i t h t h e s e c o n d q u e s ti o n , t h e r e w a s a r e a s o n a b l e

c o n s e n s u s b e t w e e n t h e c o n t r a c t o r s a n d t h e e n g i n e e r s .

M a j o r i t i e s o f b o t h f e lt t h a t t h e y w o u l d b e a b l e t o i d e n t i f y

t h e c ri ti c al p a th , a n d a n u m b e r o f in t e r e s ti n g c o m m e n t s

w e r e m a d e , a s f o l l o w s :

Engineer

Yes (I am able to identify the cri t ical path), but i t doesn't

mean to say that I do.

Of ten wi th di f ficul ty - - you c an never be cer ta in of an alys ing

the real critical path.

Contractor

With di f ficulty - - you are a lways going to have a c r i t ical path

through each s t ructure (when m ore than one i s bui l t a t once) .

You may have mor e t han one .

T h e f i rs t c o m m e n t f r o m t h e c o n t r a c t o r s s e e m s t o s u g g e s t

a p a r t i c u l a r w a y o f lo o k i n g a t t h e r e a l c r i ti c a l p a t h .

R a t h e r t h a n i d e n ti f y in g a p a t h t h a t i s th e l o n g e s t t h r o u g h

t h e n e t w o r k a s a w h o l e , t h i s c o n t r a c t o r a p p e a r s t o i d e n t i f y

i m p o r t a n t p a t h s t h r o u g h e a c h m a i n p a r t o f th e n e t w o r k .

F o r h i m , t h e a c h i e v e m e n t o f e a c h s e c t i o n is c r i t ic a l t o t h e

c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e p r o j e c t a s a w h o l e . T h e f a c t t h a t t h is

i s n o t i n li n e w i t h o u r n o r m a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e t e r m

' c r i t i c a l p a t h ' p e r h a p s h i g h l i g h t s a n e e d t o d e f i n e b e t t e r

w h a t i s m e a n t b y t h a t t e r m w h e n i t r e la t e s t o a l iv e

p r o j e c t .

T h e l a s t q u e s t i o n u n d e r t h i s h e a d i n g w a s a l s o a d d r e s s e d

t o b o t h t h e e n g i n e e r s a n d t h e c o n t r a c t o r s .

A r e y o u a w a r e o f t h e u se o f a s- b u i lt C P M s c h e d u l e s

t o v a l i d a t e e x t e n si o n o f t i m e c l a im s i n A m e r i c a n c o u r t

h e a r i n g s ?

O f a ll t h e r e p li e s, 7 7 w e r e u n c o n d i t i o n a l n o s , 1 8 w e r e

c o n d i t i o n a l n o s , a n d o n l y 5 w e r e y e ss e s. O n e c o n t r a c -

t o r w h o r e p l i e d n o a d d e d t h a t h e u s e d a s - b u i l t p r o -

g r a m m e s ; t h i s w a s t h e s a m e c o n t r a c t o r w h o s e a p p r o a c h

w a s d e s c r i b e d a b o v e , a n d w h o w a s s e e n a s d e m o n s t r a t -

i n g ' e n t i tl e m e n t ' . H i s v i e w o f t h e a s - b u il t p r o g r a m m e

w a s t h a t i t m a d e n o a t t e m p t t o i n c o r p o r a t e a c t u a l

a c t iv i t y d u r a t i o n s , a n d s i m p l y u se d t h e d u r a t i o n s f r o m

t h e in i ti a l c o n t r a c t p r o g r a m m e . T h e r e s p o n s e s h e r e w e r e

a c l e a r i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e fa c t t h a t t h e e s t a b l i s h e d p r o -

c e d u r e a d o p t e d i n t h e U S A i s a l m o s t u n h e a r d o f i n t h e

U K . F r o m t h e r e p li es in t h e p r e v i o u s s e c t i o n , it a p p e a r s

t h a t t h i s m a y a l s o b e t r u e o f t h e p h i l o s o p h y t h a t

u n d e r l i e s t h e U S a p p r o a c h .

C O N C L U S I O N S

F r o m t h e f i r st s e c t i o n o f t h e f in d i n g s , t h e m a i n

c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t d e l a y c la i m s h a v e t o b e d e a l t w i t h o n

t h e m a j o r i t y o f m a j o r U K c o n s t r u c t i o n s it es . T h i s s u re l y

m a k e s t h e v a l u e o f r e s e a rc h i n t h is a r e a o f p a r t i c u l a r

i m p o r t a n c e . T w o o t h e r g e n e ra l c o n c lu s i o n s c a n b e d r a w n

f r o m t h i s s e c t i o n . T h e f i r s t i s t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n c o l l e c t e d

a b o u t t h e f r e q u e n c y o f a c c e l e r a t io n c l a i m s s u g g e st s t h a t

t h e r e m a y b e s o m e d i s c r e p a n c y b e t w e e n t h e c o n t r a c t o r ' s

a n d t h e s u p e r v i s i n g e n g i n e e r ' s v ie w s o f w h a t c o n s t i t u t e s

such a c l a i m. T h i s i s no t a t a l l su r p r i s i ng , a s t hese c l a i ms

a p p e a r t o o c c u r v e r y i n f r eq u e n t l y , a n d i t is u n u s u a l f o r

a n y i n d i v i d u a l e n g i n e e r t o h a v e h a d m u c h e x p e r i e n c e

o f t h e i r e ff e ct s. T h e s e c o n d c o n c e r n s t h e d e d u c t i o n o f

l i q u i d a t e d d a m a g e s . I t is a s su m e d b y s o m e t h a t t h e y a r e

n e v e r d e d u c t e d . T h e s u r v e y c e r t a i n l y f o u n d t h a t t h is

m e t h o d o f r e s t it u t i o n i s r a r e l y in v o k e d , b u t t h e r e w e r e

u n d o u b t e d l y a n u m b e r o f e n g i ne e r s w h o h a d e x p e ri e n ce d

c o n t r a c t s o n w h i c h t h e d a m a g e s h a d b e e n t a k e n .

I n t h e s e c o n d s e c t i o n , t h e m a t e r i a l i s c o n s i d e r e d i n

t e r m s o f t w o m a i n t h e m e s : ( a) th e a t t i t u d e s t o p a r t i c u l a r

c l a i m s s i t u a t i o n s , a n d ( b ) t h e m e c h a n i s m s t h a t a r e u s e d

i n p r e p a r i n g a n d a s s e s s i n g t h e s e c l a i m s .

I n t e r m s o f t h e f i rs t t h e m e , t h e p r i n c i p a l c o n c l u s i o n s

t h a t c a n b e d r a w n f r o m t h e s t u d y a r e a s f o l l o w s :

T h e r e a p p e a r s t o b e g o o d a g r e e m e n t b e t w e e n b o t h

t h e e n g i n e e r s a n d t h e c o n t r a c t o r s t h a t a c l a i m f o r

e x t e n d e d o v e r h e a d c o s t s s h o u l d b e a b l e t o s u c c e e d

d e s p i te t h e f a c t t h a t t h e t im e f o r c o m p l e t i o n h a s n o t

b e e n e x c e e d e d . I n t h is s i tu a t i o n , h o w e v e r , a n u m b e r o f

t h o s e i n t e r v i e w e d w o u l d a w a r d a n e x t e n s i o n o f t im e .

A s t r o n g l i n k se e m s t o e x i s t i n t h e m i n d s o f m a n y w h o

d e a l w i t h d e l a y c l ai m s b e t w e e n t h e a w a r d i n g o f a n

e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e a n d t h e a c c e p t a n c e o f a c l a im f o r

e x t e n d e d o v e r h e a d c o s t s .

I n t h e c la i m s s i t u a t i o n s i n v o l v i n g c o n c u r r e n t d e la y s ,

t h e a p p r o a c h a d o p t e d b y t h e e n g i n e e r s w a s g e n e r a l l y

v e r y fa i r t o t h e c o n t r a c t o r . N o a t t e m p t s e e m e d t o h a v e

b e e n m a d e b y e i t h e r p a r t y t o r e m o v e d e l a y s f o r w h i c h

t h e c o n t r a c t o r w a s n o t r e s p o n s i b le , a n d t h e n t o i d e n t i f y

h o w w e l l t h e c o n t r a c t o r c o u l d h a v e p r o c e e d e d i n t h e

a b s e n c e o f t h e s e d e l a y s .

I n t e r m s o f t h e s e c o n d t h e m e , t h e b a s i c a p p r o a c h

a d o p t e d b y m o s t e n g i n e e r s i n a s s e s si n g t h e c l a im s w a s a s

f o l l ows :

C h e c k t h e f a c ts o f th e c o n t r a c t o r ' s s u b m i s s io n .

I d e n t i f y o r v e r i f y t h e c ri t ic a l p a t h .

C h e c k w h e t h e r t h e d e l a y s o n t h i s p a t h h a v e h a d a

s h u n t i n g e f f e c t o n t h e a c t i v i ti e s .

I f s o m e o f th e d e l a y s o n t h e c r it i ca l p a t h w o u l d h a v e

c a u s e d a n e x t e n s i o n o f t im e , t h e n a n e x t e n s i o n o f ti m e

m i g h t w e l l b e j u s t if i e d .

S i m i l a r v i e w s w e r e e x p r e s s e d b y t h e c o n t r a c t o r s i n

r e l a t i o n t o t h e w a y s i n w h i c h t h e y w o u l d t r y t o p r o v e

t h e i r r ig h t s t o a n e x t e n s i o n o f t i m e . A f e w o f t h e m s o u g h t

t o d e m o n s t r a t e ' e n t i t l e m e n t ' , a s d e s c r i b e d a b o v e . I t i s

c l e a r th a t , a p a r t f r o m t h e ' e n t it l e m e n t ' m e t h o d , t h e in t e r-

v i e w e e s t e n d e d t o d e a l w i t h t h e s e p r o b l e m s o n t h e b a s i s

o f t h e c r it ic a l p a t h a l o n e . O t h e r p a t h s t h r o u g h t h e

n e t w o r k w e r e n o t l ik e l y t o b e c o n s i d e r e d .

T h e f o r e g o i n g d i s c u s si o n a s s u m e s t h a t a c r it ic a l p a t h

o n a l i v e c o n t r a c t c a n b e i d e n t if i e d , a n d t h a t t h e t e r m h a s

s o m e m e a n i n g i n t h i s c o n t e x t . A t t h e p l a n n i n g s t a g e o f

a p r o j e c t , t h e c r i t i c a l p a t h i s e a s i l y i d e n t i fi e d a s t h e p a t h

w i t h n o f l o a t w h e n m i n i m u m c o m p l e t i o n t i m e i s

e n f o r c e d . H o w e v e r , e v e n w i t h g o o d , a c c u r a t e r e c o r d s o f

1 52 I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f P r o j e c t M a n a g e m e n t

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S S OTT

the activities in the contract, the critical path m ay still be

difficult to identify. When the contractor may start an

activity, stop for a while, and then restart, how is one to

view this gap in the act ivity s progress? Is it float? I f so,

there may be no path through the network that does not

have some element of float within it. The questions in the

questionnaire concerning the critical path produced some

odd results. There was a decided disagreement between

the engineers and the contractors as to whether this path

usually changed during the course of the contract. On

the question o f ability to identify the final critical path for

the contract, however, both parties confirmed that they

were able. Other comments expressed while answering

these questions gave the impression that either this was

not always easy to do, or tha t the respondents might not

have a common understanding of the critical path in these

circumstances. The suggestion, then, is that it migh t well

be necessary to provide an alternative definition for the

critical path when it relates to a live contract.

For disruption claims caused by a large number of

site instructions, two main responses were given by the

contractors interviewed. One response was that this

was not a special problem, and could be dealt with in

the same way as other delays. The other response was

to amass information on additional costs together with

information on the sources of disruption. By showing

these causes of delay and the purported effects of delay,

the contractors hoped to persuade the employer to pay

their increased costs. The second method is recognized

in the literature, and yet it fails to demons trate any link

between cause and effect. It could be argued tha t, i f some

contractors are able to cope with these situations, then

others should also be able to manage. The excuse for

adopting a less convincing approach to these problems

is undermined.

As stated above, the issue of delay claims is a difficult

one, and no universal remedies are likely to be found.

However, this does not mean that nothing can be done

to improve the situation. It is hoped that, if information

is made available about how these matters are dealt with

by others, some benefit can be derived. In the absence of

useful legal precedents in this area, the procedures used

by other professionals may be a valuable guide.

R E F E R E N C E S

1 W i c k w i r e J M a n d S m i t h R F

The use of critical

path method techniques in contract claims Publ ic

C o n t r a c t L a w J Vol 7 No 1 (1974) pp 1-45

2 Cond i t ions o f Con t rac t

(5th Ed.) Stanhope Press, UK

(1979)

3 Powell-Smith, V

a n d S t e p h e n s o n

D Civil Engineering

Cla ims BSP Professional Books, UK (1989)

4 Abrahamson, M W E n g i n e e r i n g L a w a n d t h e I C E

Con t rac t s

(4th Ed.) Applied Science Publishers, UK

(1979)

S t e p h e n S c o t t g r a d u a t e d f r o m t h e

Un iv e rs i t y o f Ma n c h e s t e r I n s t i t u t e

o f S c i e n c e a n d Te c h n o lo g y UK in

civ i l eng ineering and la ter com -

p l e t e d a n M S c in c o n s tru c t i o n e n g in -

e e r in g a t Le e d s Un iv e rs i t y UK .

Ha v in g sp e n t 1 2 y e a rs w o rk in g o n

th e d e s ig n a n d c o n s t ru c t io n o f ma jo r

ro a d a n d b r id g e w o rk s sc h e me s h e

n o w l e c tu re s o n c o n s t ru c t i o n ma n -

a g e me n t i n t h e De p a r tme n t o f C i v i l

E n g in e e r in g a t t h e Un iv e rs i t y o f

N e w c a s t l e u p o n Ty n e UK . He

gaine d h is doctor a te in 1992 .


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