Loss and expense: definition and example
The money you lose when the job is delayed or disrupted by events your contract puts at the other side's risk.
By Jack Butler-Kettle · Updated
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.
A loss-and-expense claim seeks compensation under the relevant contractual provisions for the financial effect of qualifying events. More time to complete does not automatically produce a money entitlement. The event, conditions, causal link and supported amount need to be considered separately.
Keep cost records connected to specific events and periods. Delay and disruption recovery can help distinguish additional cost from the original priced work.
Worked example
The facts
Late access keeps a site supervisor on a package longer than planned.
What happens
The subcontractor checks whether the event qualifies under its loss-and-expense terms.
It links the additional supervisor cost to the affected period and considers any costs avoided.
What this shows
A supported calculation explains the additional loss without assuming that every cost during the delay is recoverable.
Sources
- Delay and Disruption Protocol, 2nd edition, February 2017. Society of Construction Law.