Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Seb Oram
November 2012
D148
www.scl.org.uk
EXTENSIONS OF TIME
AND DAMAGES FOR DELAY
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Seb Oram
Introduction
Claims brought in respect of delays, and disruption to the course of works, are
often difficult to present. One of the major difficulties in recent years has
been in establishing that losses have resulted, as a matter of causation, from
the delaying event.
The critical questions that arise, and need to be addressed in evidence, include:
(i)
(ii)
Breach of either of these terms will entitle E to seek damages. In the absence
of a valid liquidated damages clause, he will need to prove his loss. Whether
or not E will also be able to terminate the contract will depend whether the
breach goes to the root of the contract, or whether (in respect of the time
obligation) time has been made of the essence of the particular obligation.3
Absent express provision in the contract, where the risk and cost of delay falls
will depend on the parties completion obligation:4 for example, 1, if there is
no fixed date for completion and only an obligation to complete in reasonable
time, the cause and impact of the delaying event may affect what amounts to a
reasonable time; for example, 2, if the contract has a fixed completion date,
the cost of delay may initially be at Cs risk but (unless the parties have made
adequate provision for extensions of time) a delaying event may have the
effect of disapplying that fixed completion date (by setting time at large).5
A recurring difficulty that has troubled the courts in recent years is how to deal
with delay where it has two or more separate causes, the effect of which is felt
contemporaneously, and where C and E are each responsible for at least one of
those causes (a concurrent event). The starting point is how a concurrent
event affects Cs obligation to complete.
1
2
3
4
E can still claim general damages, but has to prove his loss,8 and C
will only be liable for damages for delay in the event the time that
he takes to complete is unreasonable.
The principle reflects the fact that a fixed completion date gives rise both to an
obligation on C to complete within that time, and a right on his part to have
that time available to complete the work.10
Prevention is therefore a reference to Cs ability to reach completion. What
is required is that the delaying event in fact (ie as a matter of causation,
established by evidence) makes it impossible to reach the completion date.
Evidence that progress of the works was affected will be necessary.11 A minor
variation that is given just before completion, for example, may not therefore
be enough.
As to the scope of the prevention principle, Multiplex Constructions v
Honeywell12 clarified that:
1.
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7
2.
3.
2.
3.
Not only must the EOT clause exist, but E must have exercised it.
This last principle derives from the Court of Appeal decision in Peak
Construction.18 The view in Australian case law is that if the reason for the
EOT clause not being exercised is that C has not complied with a precondition
to give notice to E, E still cannot rely on that to refuse to extend time, because
to do so would be to benefit from his own wrong.19 That conclusion was
reached by a strict approach to construction of the clause.
13
14
15
16
17
English courts have not adopted the same approach. Multiplex and Steria v
Sigma Wireless together suggest that:20
o
20 Multiplex, note 11, para [57] and Steria v Sigma Wireless Communications Ltd [2007]
EWHC 3454 (TCC), 118 Con LR 177, paras [81], [87]-[89] and [95].
21 This approach was also adopted in Adyard Abu Dhabi, note 11, para [255].
22 Multiplex, note 12, paras [95]-[104] and Steria, note 20, paras [90]-[91].
23 Walter Lilly & Co Ltd v Mackay [2012] EWHC 1773 (TCC), paras [464]-[468].
24 Adyard Abu Dhabi, note 11, para [265]-[282].
C must establish that the event in question has in fact caused delay
to the completion date by virtue of causing actual delay to the
progress of the works. The conduct therefore has to render it
impossible or impracticable for the other party to do his work
within the stipulated time. The act relied upon must actually
prevent the contractor from carrying out the works within the
contract period or, in other words, must cause some actual delay.32
That means that the prevention principle cannot apply if the delay is
caused by two events, the effect of which cannot be separated from
each other, one of which is Cs responsibility. C could not then
establish that Es delay would in fact have delayed completion,
because his own fault would have done so anyway.33
31 Balfour Beatty v Chestermount Properties Ltd (1993) 32 Con LR 139 (QB); Walter Lilly,
note 23, para [364].
32 See Adyard Abu Dhabi, note 11, para [282] and Jerram Falkus Construction Ltd v Fenice
Investments Inc (No 4) [2011] EWHC 1935 (TCC), para [49].
33 Accordingly, I conclude that, for the prevention principle to apply, the contractor must
be able to demonstrate that the employers acts or omissions have prevented the
contractor from achieving an earlier completion date and that, if that earlier completion
date would not have been achieved anyway, because of concurrent delays caused by the
contractors own default, the prevention principle will not apply: Coulson J in Jerram
Falkus, note 32, paras [50]-[52].
34 Jerram Falkus, note 32, para [51].
Unless the schedule of works becomes a contract document, the usual position
will be that C is entitled to decide on the sequence of works required to
perform the works within the contractual timeframe.37 While a successful
delay claim therefore requires proof of an impact on the completion date (see
for example Royal Brompton Hospital NHS Trust v Hammond (No 1)38), that
is not necessarily so for a disruption claim.
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36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
Final points
Evidence: The emphasis on proving delay on completion as a matter of fact
and causation has continued to lend importance to critical path analysis (see,
for example, the approach and criticisms of the expert evidence in Walter
Lilly47). In De Beers v Atos48 it was suggested that evidence might otherwise
be provided: (i) by reference to contemporaneous notes / timesheets; or (ii) by
testimony of workers, perhaps on a sample basis. Earlier cases suggest that, in
a proper case, the court may be willing to infer, in the absence of other
evidence, that the causes of the delay at one stage have a continuing effect so
as to produce the same delay at a later stage. However that probability will
diminish with the passage of time and the complexity of intervening events
(see for example Ascon49).
Conclusiveness clauses / withholding notices: Clauses that bind the parties to
the conclusiveness of, for example, a final account on questions of extensions
of time and C expenses claims, will be upheld if their commercial effect can
be identified and made to operate effectively (see Jerram Falkus50). Of
interest, however, in the same case the court was less willing to refuse to
investigate the merits of a claim, following settlement of the final account,
merely because of a failure to serve a withholding notice.51
Notice preconditions: As set out above, the courts have upheld these in
relation to EOT claims.52 They were also upheld in relation to a Cs loss and
expense claim in Gear Construction v McGee Group,53 although it may be
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important that counsel had conceded that the clause did not bar a common law
claim. Clear words would no doubt be needed to exclude a common law
claim.
Acceleration / Recovery: A claimant seeking an extension of time may be
required to implement steps to recover the programme (either because a failure
to do so will break the chain of causation, or by virtue of his obligation to
mitigate his loss).54 But he is not required to incur additional expense in doing
so.55 If he in fact takes steps that reduce the delay (eg by absorbing slack
time) he must give credit for avoided losses.
Can the innocent contractor claim the costs of extra resources added to the
project in order to increase the progress of works? He can if there is an
express instruction by E, and under general principles of mitigation a party can
recover expenses incurred in undertaking reasonable steps to mitigate, even if
they do not work. But it has been said that the doctrine of mitigation is
unlikely to provide much assistance where there is contractual machinery for
dealing with EOTs and loss and expense.56
Finally, constructive acceleration (pressure from the employer to make good
the delay, perhaps derived from a refusal to extend time) is not a doctrine that
has gained general acceptance.57
Liquidated damages and acceleration: If the contract contains an express
acceleration clause, and C fails in breach of contract to comply with an
acceleration instruction, it seems that Es losses will fall within a liquidated
damages clause. The underlying cause of any loss is the delay that already
exists at the time that the instruction to accelerate is given.58
At the time of writing, an application for permission to appeal is pending in
Walter Lilly.59
The views expressed by the author in this paper are his alone, and do not necessarily
represent the views of the Society of Construction Law or the editors. Neither the
author, the Society, nor the editors can accept any liability in respect of any use to
which this paper or any information or views expressed in it may be put, whether
arising through negligence or otherwise.
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