Who can put a value on my delay and disruption claim?
A claims consultant or quantity surveyor values it from your records, while a programming expert assesses the time and your solicitor the legal questions.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
The answer
A delay and disruption claim asks three questions. How long were you delayed, and by what? What did it cost you? And does your subcontract entitle you to be paid? The first is programme work. A delay expert analyses the programme and the site records to show which events caused which weeks. The second is the money side. A claims consultant or quantity surveyor prices each head from your payroll, hire invoices, allocation sheets and accounts. The third is legal, and your solicitor answers it where it is disputed. Many claims need only the money side. The time is often settled already, by an extension of time granted. A disruption claim often needs no programme analysis at all. So start from what is already agreed. Where the period is agreed, the valuation can start straight away. Where it is not, the expert and the valuer work from the same records. We do the money side only, alongside your programming expert and your solicitor.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A groundworks subcontractor's job overran by 8 weeks, and its drainage gangs were stopped and moved for months. The main contractor has granted 6 weeks of extension, and disputes the other 2.
What happens
- The 6 granted weeks go straight to valuation, from payroll and hire invoices, at £12,000 a week.
- The disruption to the drainage runs is valued from the allocation sheets, with no programme input needed.
- The 2 disputed weeks go to a programming expert, with the same site records.
- The solicitor is asked one question: whether the notice for the late drainage drawings met the subcontract's clause.
The claim in figures
| Item | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Prolongation, 6 granted weeks at £12,000 | £72,000 | Valued now |
| Disruption to the drainage runs | £24,000 | Valued now |
| Prolongation, 2 disputed weeks at £12,000 | £24,000 | Waiting for the expert |
The outcome
The first £96,000 goes in straight away. The £24,000 for the disputed weeks follows once the expert reports.
To have the money side of your claim valued from your records and pursued, see our Delay & Disruption Claim service.