Delay & Disruption Claim
ClaimTimetable agreed at scoping
Delays or disruption cost you money? We test the evidence, calculate the loss and prepare your claim.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Get a free report on your claim. About three minutes; no obligation.
The problem
Late access or information has extended the job, or repeated stoppages, resequencing or acceleration have increased your costs. You may have received extra time without payment, or had the claim itself challenged.
Being charged for finishing late? See Delay Damages Claim.
The solution
We address urgent notices, test each claim and price it from payroll, invoices and site records. You approve the submission; we negotiate or prepare adjudication figures.
Delay periods must come from an agreed extension, existing report or programming specialist. Disruption-only claims do not need this. Legal questions go to your solicitor.
What you get
You receive an evidence assessment identifying what can be supported and what is missing, followed by a costed claim with records behind each figure. The work closes with a written record of the settlement, decision or your choice to stop.
Includes a Handover Pack: key dates and sources, next steps, likely responses, scope limits and any ready-to-send letters.
Fee: Fixed fee agreed before each stage: evidence review, valuation, then negotiation or adjudication support. You decide whether to continue after each.
Turnaround: the timetable is agreed in writing at scoping and then kept.
How it works
Claim stage: Event
You tell us what happened
Start with a free call. Agree the first stage’s fee and timetable, then send the records listed below.
What you get: A written scope, fixed fee and timetable, with every deadline already running
- A
The subcontract
A complete PDF with every schedule and amendment, plus any main contract terms it brings in.
Where to find it: The job's commercial folder or the original order email.
Why we need it: The claim can only go by a route the subcontract gives it. It is priced on the basis the subcontract sets, and subject to the notices it requires.
How we will use it: It fixes the route, the valuation basis and the notice rules that each part of the claim is tested against in the first stage.
- B
Every date that is running
Any notice period still open, any response or meeting date, and any adjudication notice or directions, forwarded exactly as they arrived.
Where to find it: The project inbox and whoever received the latest letter from your main contractor.
Why we need it: A notice deadline this week comes before any valuation. A late notice can cost more than a weak figure.
How we will use it: We deal with the nearest date first and confirm every date to you in writing before the valuation starts.
- C
The notices given and received
Delay and loss and expense notices, early warnings, extension of time applications and decisions, as issued, with proof of sending where you have it.
Where to find it: The sent items of whoever issues your notices, and your main contractor's letters in the project inbox.
Why we need it: Whether the money is recoverable at all can turn on whether the event was notified as the subcontract requires. So we test the notices before building any figure.
How we will use it: Each part of the claim is rated on its notices as well as its records, and any gap is stated rather than hidden.
- D
The cost records
The job cost ledger, payroll, timesheets, allocation sheets, plant returns and hire and purchase invoices, exported rather than printed.
Where to find it: Your accounts system's exports and the site's weekly returns.
Why we need it: Loss and expense is the cost actually incurred because of the event, and it is paid on records, not on percentages.
How we will use it: Every part of the claim is built from them, so each figure has a payroll record or an invoice behind it.
- E
The site records
Diaries, allocation sheets, day sheets, daywork sheets, photographs and progress records, exactly as they were kept at the time.
Where to find it: The site office, the site manager's files and the team's phones.
Why we need it: Disruption is measured by comparing affected and unaffected work, and only the records made at the time can show both.
How we will use it: They set the baseline and the affected periods for disruption. They also show which staff and plant were on the job for the extra time.
- F
The tender build-up
The priced preliminaries and the labour and plant build-ups from the tender, in the format they were priced in.
Where to find it: Your estimator's tender file.
Why we need it: The tender shows what was allowed. That is the starting point for measuring what the events added, and for finding your own tender shortfalls before your main contractor does.
How we will use it: It is compared with the actual costs so the claim carries the difference the events made and nothing that was always your risk.
- G
The delay period and the extension of time position
Any extension of time granted, any delay analysis, or your programming specialist's written view of the periods and causes, as it stands. If there is none yet, say so.
Where to find it: Your main contractor's extension of time decision, or your planner or programming specialist.
Why we need it: We do not assess delay. The period any time-related cost is priced over comes from a written, named source, and the claim says so on its face.
How we will use it: We adopt that period, name its source in the claim, and price the costs within it. If there is none yet, a programming specialist provides it. A claim for disruption alone needs none.
- H
The account and anything already exchanged
The current account, sums certified or agreed, and any claim, response, offer or concession already sent or received.
Where to find it: Your QS's valuation file and the project inbox.
Why we need it: Money already paid in variation rates, or agreed elsewhere, has to come out of the claim. And a figure already put to your main contractor shapes what can be said next.
How we will use it: Every sum already recovered is deducted and shown, and the claim is checked against anything already exchanged.
Copies are fine. Send what you have and we will tell you what's missing.
- A
Claim stages: Notice, Entitlement and Evidence
We test each part of your claim
We read your subcontract and rate each part of your claim on its notices and records, with the fix for any gap. You then choose which parts go forward.
What you get: A rating for each part of your claim, with the fix for each gap
Claim stages: Quantum and Assembly
We price the claim for you to approve
We price each part from your payroll, invoices and site records. Nothing goes to your main contractor until you have seen every figure and said yes.
What you get: The priced claim, ready to go in your name, with its weak points set out
Claim stage: Resolution
We negotiate with your main contractor
We answer their reply point by point, with the records behind each answer, then negotiate. Anything agreed is put in writing.
What you get: A running record of what is agreed, still disputed and given up
We prepare for adjudication, if it comes to that
If talks stall, you choose: settle, go to adjudication or hold it for the final account. For adjudication, we prepare the money side for whoever runs it.
What you get: The figures for the adjudication, each backed by a record
We close it out and hand over the Handover Pack
Get a free report on your claim
Answer the questions below for a free PDF report by email. Allow about three minutes; choose “Not sure” where needed.
Your report explains where you stand, the next steps to take and the records to gather. It also sets out how we could help for a fixed fee, with no obligation.
Loading the questions.
Prevent it next time
Put a routine in place to reduce the risk of this happening again. Delay & Disruption Loss Prevention.