Recommendation and report
Few contracts require the contract administrator to provide the contractor with a detailed assessment of how the extension of time was assessed, but many employers will want to have a report on the reasons for the amendment to the completion date. The discipline of setting out reasons in a report can actually be very helpful in arriving at a considered and logical assessment.
If a report on the claim is issued, it is suggested that it should contain the following, as appropriate:
- general comments and background information;
- a note of the contractual provisions under which the claim arises;
- a note of concurrent events on the site that might have a bearing on the claim (for example, observations on the contractor's performance on site; difficulties with subcontractors; shortages of labour, plant or materials; a reluctance to comply with instructions; or faulty workmanship);
- comments on each item of claim with regard to its validity or any prima facie errors it may contain;
- factual information and records used for personnel and items of plant, and a record of how the time of each on site was affected by the delay;
- in the case of disputed items, the reasons why it has not been possible to reach agreement with the contractor; and
- evaluation and recommendation.
The following may usefully be attached as appendices:
- an abstract of the flow of information or instructions;
- an abstract of the events on site; and
- abstracts of records, diary entries and similar.
Further guidance on the award of extensions of time under Joint Contract Tribunal (JCT) contracts is provided in sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Society of Construction Law's Delay and Disruption Protocol: Hunting Snarks, and section 5 of Part 4 of the old Surveyors' Construction Handbook.