Construction Contracts

This article discusses global claims in construction contracts and how to defend them. It explains the difference between critical and non-critical delays and the legal principles related to completion dates. The article also highlights the importance of having provisions for time extension in contracts to limit the liability of the contractor.

Running Head: CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
Construction Contracts
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

1CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
Internal Memo
Date: 21/2/2018
TO: Contract Team
From:___________
Subject: Global Claims and how to defend them
It is to be mentioned that this company in the recent times faced a lot of global claims by
the contractors. It can be stated that Global claims are claims that arise in the construction
industry between the parties to a contract. It is to be stated that global claims arise from the result
of problems wich include conflicts, delays, insufficient information. Claims can also be made for
liquidated damages, expense and losses and for extension of time. However the global claims
that the company has faced are specifically relating to the critical delays.
It can be said that delays in a project can be critical as well as non critical. However
whether a delay in the project is critical or non critical is decided by whether such delay affects
the completion date of the project. It is to be mentioned that if tine is the most important element
of the contract, any failure on the part of the contractor to finish the project within the proposed
deadline will entitle the Employer to sue such contractor for liquidated damages and also have
the option to rescind the contract. In case the delay happens in the project due to the fault of the
employer, the contractor cannot be sued by the employer for damages by the application of the
legal principle that a person cannot benefit from his own fault. In such cases where the employer
is responsible for the delay the completion date of the project is extended to a reasonable time
period or the contractor is awarded interim damages by the contract administrator. However, it is

2CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
to be mentioned that the time extension application is inspected by the contract administrator and
such application needs to contain relevant information about the reason of delay, day work sheets
and progress reports. The contractor has the right to resolve the dispute by the dispute resolution
process if he is not satisfied by the decision of the contract administrator. In the case Holme vs
Guppy (1883) 3 M & W 387 the court had laid down a general rule related to the ‘ absolute
completion dates’ of projects in which the employers are responsible for the delay in the projects.
Thus after analyzing the modern cases of the construction industry and the issues existing
in such cases it can be said that contracts should have the provision of extending the date of
completion if the cause of delay is attributed to the employer or unforeseen circumstances. Such
a provision existing in the contract would be essential to limit the liability of the contractor.
Kind Regards,
Name of the party
______________

3CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
Bibliography
Holme vs Guppy (1883) 3 M & W 387
Thomas, Reginald William, and Mark Wright. Construction contract claims. Palgrave Macmillan,
2016.
Burr, Andrew, ed. Delay and disruption in construction contracts. CRC Press, 2016.