This is one of a number of good practice guides published by RIBA. All are slim volumes, this one comprising 132 pages, and while not sufficiently detailed or comprehensive to satisfy anyone involved primarily in dispute resolution, it nevertheless provides a useful basis for understanding some of the basic principles of how claims for extensions of time should to be dealt with.
The guide commences with sections on legal principles and liquidated damages before moving on to consider the grounds for extensions of time under the various JCT standard forms. Grounds for extensions of time under the NEC contracts are dealt with in a separate chapter at the end as NEC provisions differ from those in most standard forms.
The following chapters cover notifications of delay and the information the person vested with the power to award an extension of time would reasonably require in order to make a proper determination.
The next and largest chapter deals with the actual assessment of the extension of time followed by a chapter on the difficult topic of concurrent delays. These chapters contain a number of illustrative black and white bar charts dealing with simple delay situations and showing the effect of the delays on completion. I did not find these particularly easy to follow and this was perhaps because I have become too used to seeing coloured bar charts in real extension of time situations where the different colours more easily differentiate between original programme periods, delays and extension. The charts could however have benefited from some links showing the critical paths.
A final chapter on ethical issues touches on the supply of information as well as the architect’s duty to be even handed as between the employer and the contractor.
Although this guide is primarily directed at architects, the guidance and principles described are equally relevant to all other construction professionals.
