The diary says the gang was moved but not where to
I can prove they were stopped. I can't prove what it cost, which is the half that pays.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
If the disruption is over and the number keeps collapsing, see what to do when the disruption is real and you can't put a number on it.
What's happening?
The diary says the gang moved off block B, and stops there. Nobody recorded where they went, what they did instead, how long the interruption lasted or what it took to get going again. That entry proves disruption happened. It cannot price it, and the price is the half that pays.
Work in the new area can be productive, partly productive or unproductive. Record which it was, rather than treating every move as the same loss. Cause without cost is sympathy, not money.
Recording the cost side is only a small addition to the diary habit you already have. It links the day's events to what they did to your resources. A later claim can then rest on records, not on rebuilding the story.
The solution
When a gang is stopped or moved, record the original area and the interruption. Then record where they went, what they produced there, when they came back, and any remobilisation, double handling or standing plant. Put it on the labour allocation sheet on the day. Any productive work then comes off the claim, and the rest is priced without counting anything twice.
Delay & Disruption Loss Prevention makes this part of your team's daily routine. Delay & Disruption Claim values past moves from the records that survive, crediting any productive work first.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A bricklaying subcontractor's diary says the gang moved off block B, and stops. The next time it happens, the entry is completed, with each fact recorded against its time.
What happens
- Six bricklayers and two labourers are moved off block B at 9.30am on the Tuesday, because the scaffold lift is not ready. They go to the garden walls at block D.
- Their output there is 1,100 bricks that day, against 2,400 on the block. The entry is linked to the scaffolder's diary entry for the lift.
- They return on the Thursday at 7.30am. The labourers spend an hour moving Tuesday's materials back.
- The entry records each fact with its time, and the event is costed the same week.
- The costing takes 1.5 hours of standing time for eight people on the Tuesday morning, at £300, and an hour of double handling at £120.
- Against the gang's output over the previous 3 weeks, the output difference over the 2 days is costed at £1,400. The value of the garden walls built is taken off, so productive work is not counted as loss.
- The £1,820 event goes on the register against the scaffold lift, with the scaffolder's own diary entry for the same day. It is put to the main contractor as a recorded cost, not as money already accepted as owed.
The event in figures
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Standing time, eight people, 1.5 hours | £300 |
| Double handling, one hour | £120 |
| Output difference over 2 days, garden walls credited | £1,400 |
| Event total | £1,820 |
| Agreed at the account | £1,500 |
The outcome
At the account the main contractor agrees £1,500 for the event. It had been costed at £1,820 from the diary, in the same week it happened.