Source: https://www.quantsurv.com/resources/glossary/head-office-overheads Content format: Markdown version of the public page. Content reviewed: 2026-09-30 # Head office overheads: definition and example The cost of running your business, such as offices and staff, that a delay can leave unrecovered. By [Jack Butler-Kettle]() ยท Updated 30 September 2026 Guidance for England and Wales. Check the contract, amendments and facts that apply to your job. ## What it means in practice Read this alongside [SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol]() and [Walter Lilly & Company Ltd v Mackay \[2012\] EWHC 1773 (TCC)](). These are business-wide costs such as central administration, office facilities and management. They differ from project preliminaries. A delay may affect recovery of those costs, but a formula result does not prove entitlement, causation or actual loss, and overlapping recovery must be avoided. Support the claimed loss with accounts and evidence of the delay's effect. [Delay and disruption recovery]() can help organise the financial evidence alongside the contractual basis. ## Worked example ### The facts A subcontractor uses a calculator to explore the effect of an extended project on overhead recovery. ### What happens 1. It checks the financial inputs against its accounts and the period against project records. 2. It considers whether those costs have already been recovered through another payment. ### What this shows The calculation is an analytical aid, not evidence that the other party owes the displayed amount. ## Sources 1. [Delay and Disruption Protocol, 2nd edition, February 2017](). Society of Construction Law. 2. [Walter Lilly & Company Ltd v Mackay & Anor \[2012\] EWHC 1773 (TCC) (High Court, Technology and Construction Court, 11 July 2012)](). The National Archives, Find Case Law.