We're running late and no delay notice has gone out
The job is behind for reasons that are not ours, and nobody has put it in writing.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
What's happening?
Late access, late drawings and other trades in the way have pushed your work back. Everyone on site knows it. But nobody has written to your main contractor, because the team is busy working round it. Meanwhile, the notice period in your subcontract has been running since the delay became apparent.
If the job finishes late, damages are counted from your original completion date unless that date has been extended. The first question you will be asked is where your notice was. Some subcontracts make the notice a condition of any extension. Under the rest, a late notice still counts against you.
The solution
Get the notices out now, for every delay that is still running or has just ended. Each notice should say what is delayed, what caused it and when it started. Say that the particulars, the detail of cause and effect, will follow within your subcontract's period.
Delay Damages Prevention sets up the register, the notice templates and the records an extension rests on. Any notice due this week goes out first, and each new delay is notified the week it starts. It is about deadlines and records, not delay analysis. If damages are already being charged, Delay Damages Claim tests them against the completion date as it should have been extended.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A steel erection subcontractor is 3 weeks behind on a £1,200,000 package. Two grid lines of foundations were handed over late, and it had to share its crane with the cladding contractor for 10 days. The subcontract sets damages at £4,000 a week. It also makes notice within 7 days of a delay becoming apparent a condition of any extension.
What happens
- The foundation delay ended last week and is still inside its 7 days. The notice goes out the next morning, with particulars to follow.
- The crane sharing began 3 weeks ago, and its notice period has passed. A notice goes out anyway, with an explanation, and the subcontractor asks its solicitor what the missed condition means.
- The register and the notice templates are set up, and the site lead gets the list of events to watch for.
- Two more delays in the following months, both from late information, are each notified within 3 days, with particulars in time.
The weeks and what they were worth
| Item | Weeks | Damages avoided |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations, notified in time | 2 | £8,000 |
| Late information, notified in time | 1 | £4,000 |
| Crane sharing, notified late and refused | 0 | £0 |
The outcome
The job finishes 3 weeks late against a completion date extended by 3 weeks, so no damages are charged. Without the notices, the same 3 weeks would have cost £12,000.