Construction claims and extension of time

When a project runs late and the costs climb, the question is rarely whether something went wrong. It is whether the contract gives you time, money or both, and whether your records can prove it.

IMH prepares extension of time and loss and expense claims for main contractors and subcontractors across the UK. Every commission is led by Ian Heavey MRICS, a chartered quantity surveyor since 1993.

Finding the entitlement nobody has claimed

When a project has time and cost challenges, a fast but accurate review, at modest cost, can pinpoint where a claim entitlement exists but has not, for whatever reason, been submitted.

The review starts with what the project already holds:

Interviews with the project team, to fix the history while it is fresh
A forensic review of letters, emails, minutes and notices
The variation account
Productive hours, planned against actual
Drawings created and submitted, to show where the scope has crept

Extension of time claims

An event is where a claim starts, not where it ends. The claim has to connect the event to the work it affected and show what that did to completion, in a way the other side can follow. IMH writes the delay narrative alongside the programme delay analysis, so each event is traced through to the date it moved.

Notice matters as much as analysis. JCT and NEC both set out how and when delay has to be notified, and under the standard NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract a compensation event not notified within the eight weeks in clause 61.3 can stop the Completion Date being changed at all.

IMH works on the JCT suite, NEC3, FIDIC, IChemE and MF/1, and on heavily amended and bespoke forms.

Loss and expense: putting a figure on it

Time and money are separate entitlements. An extension of time does not automatically carry the cost of the delay with it, so the money has to be shown in its own right.

IMH calculates the quantum of the entitlement using established techniques and sets it out as a document you can negotiate with. It can be quicker than you may think, though it depends on the size of the loss and how complex the project is.

Examples of IMH's claims work

A remediation scheme delayed by more than a year

Unforeseen structural conditions on a complex remediation scheme put the programme back by over a year, and prolongation pushed the costs up by seven figures. Relations between the contractor, the Employer's Agent and the funder were strained, and a formal dispute looked likely. IMH set out the delay drivers and cost impacts with full substantiation, kept every exchange factual and pressed the contractor's entitlement throughout. The revised programme and the final contract sum were agreed without going to court. Read the full case study on navigating seven-figure delays.

Ground conditions on a bulk earthworks job

For a national contractor, IMH prepared a claim for additional time and money where ground conditions had affected the bulk earthwork movements.

Fees and first steps

The first consultation is free and confidential. After that, the work is agreed at a fixed price or an industry-aligned day rate, depending on how complex the claim is and how long it will take.

If a project is running late or over cost, contact IMH with the details for a free first conversation.