Daily Tenders Extentions - Leads to Business Tender Bulletins in South Africa & Africa for the Civil, Building and Construction Industry

01 August 2010

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Delays and Extensions of Time
Time is an integral part of every construction plan and can affect each party's contractual obligations. The contractor has the right to dictate the methods and sequence used to achieve the results required by the contract; therefore, the contractor must zealously guard the time needed to complete the work. Regardless of who causes the problems, disruptions can wound and sometimes kill a project. If the schedule changes it will affect the money or product whether the contractor is compensated for it or not. Inexcusable delays have a built-in contractor penalty in the form of increased costs in general conditions. Because of this it is important for the contractor to understand the nature of delays to protect the right to compensation and extensions of time. Proper notification and claims are the contractor's bag of tools in protecting these rights when there are changes from the original contract baseline. There are three types of delays on a construction project: Nonexcusable. The contractor gets no time or money. Excusable. The contractor gets time, but no money. Compensable. The contractor gets both time and money. There are many things that affect and compound the effects associated with scheduling a project. Read the contract to be aware of which type of delays entitle you to additional time or money. Be careful of the sophistication of the customer. Some years ago I was modifying a Yellow Freight facility in Milpitas, California. The work included a face-lift and modifications to the exterior of the facility. We good-naturedly signed their contract and set out to start the work. As soon as we started it rained and rained and rained. It was a sixty-day contract and it rained solid for the first three weeks. We finally were able to start and, as a good contractor, I had sent a delay letter requesting additional time. I was surprised to receive a stern letter informing me that rain in February in Northern California did not constitute abnormal weather and my request was denied. Luckily this request was a "just in case" submittal and was not needed, but I learned an important lesson. The next season we were to start a new building also in Northern California. The start date was January and there were nine months to complete it. Again it rained as it did before. This time I started early and clipped every newspaper article I could that had the words "abnormal weather." It rained for so long and so hard that the ground did not dry out enough to work on until May. We attempted to start in March, but only after the owner agreed to take financial responsibility for any failed attempts. The owner balked at one point about the delay, but the newspaper clippings clearly showed it was abnormal weather and the delay was excusable according to the contract. Typical compensable delays occur when the owner or one of the representatives, including the engineer, architect, or construction manager, has delayed the contractor in the prosecution of their work. Examples of compensable delays by the owner are Failure to provide access to all or a part of the worksite. Failure to provide timely decisions and review shop drawings. Failure to properly coordinate the work of the owner's other contractors on the site. Ordering changes in the contractor's method or sequence for performing work. Other owners' acts that stop or disrupt the contractor's continuation of the work. Copyright (c) 1998-1999 Dean E. Foreman All rights reserved.
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