83% of construction disputes are won or lost before anyone enters a room.
The records you keep today are the arguments you make tomorrow.
Clause advises project directors, QS teams, and subcontractors navigating delay claims, variation orders, and extension of time submissions under NEC3, NEC4, FIDIC, and JCT contracts. We build the case before the claim is filed.
Average value of a contested final account in UK civil engineering
Arcadis Global Construction Disputes Report 2024The final account is where projects go to war.
Most disputes don't begin with a claim — they begin six months earlier when a project manager decides not to document an instruction because the programme is tight and the relationship is good. By the time the final account lands, the contemporaneous record that would have made the variation defensible simply doesn't exist. Clause reconstructs the evidential trail, identifies the contractual entitlement, and structures the narrative before a single letter is sent.
Of extension of time claims fail due to inadequate cause-and-effect analysis
Society of Construction Law Delay & Disruption Protocol, 2nd Ed.Extension of time is a legal argument, not a programme update.
Contractors routinely submit EOT claims as revised programmes with a covering letter. Employers routinely reject them for exactly that reason. Under NEC, the obligation to notify a compensation event within eight weeks is absolute — missing that window can extinguish an entitlement worth hundreds of thousands. Clause prepares compliant, evidence-backed submissions that survive scrutiny from a forensic delay expert on the other side.
Download the Claims Readiness Checklist"The notice provisions in NEC4 clause 61.3 are not advisory. They are conditions precedent. Miss them and the entitlement dies — regardless of the merits."
Median cost of adjudication — including legal fees and expert witnesses
King's College London Construction Adjudication Study 2023Adjudication is a last resort. We build the case that makes it unnecessary.
The most valuable intervention happens before the dispute crystallises. A well-drafted early warning notice, a contemporaneous record of employer risk events, a variation order that captures the true scope — these are instruments of dispute prevention, not just project administration. Our contract health audits identify the exposure before the employer's team does.
Five questions. Instant risk rating.
Answer honestly. These are the questions an adjudicator's expert will ask. If you can't answer yes to all five, you have exposure worth understanding before a claim arrives.
Do you issue formal early warning notices within 7 days of identifying a compensation event or delay risk?
NEC4 cl.15 / FIDIC cl.20.2
Do you maintain a contemporaneous daily site record signed by both parties, or your own records signed by a supervisor?
SCL Protocol §3.6
Have all variation instructions been issued in writing with a defined scope before work commenced?
JCT SBC cl.3.14 / FIDIC cl.13.1
Have you reviewed your sub-contract back-to-back provisions against the main contract in the last 12 months?
DOM/2 flow-down risk
Is your programme baseline-frozen and updated at intervals no greater than 28 days with narrative change logs?
NEC4 cl.32 / FIDIC cl.8.3
Claims Readiness Checklist
Built from 200+ dispute instructions across NEC, FIDIC, and JCT projects. Covers contemporaneous records, notice obligations, programme management, sub-contract flow-down, and final account preparation. Used by QS teams at three of the UK's top-ten contractors.
Inside the Checklist
- Notice compliance audit (NEC cl.61.3, FIDIC cl.20.2, JCT cl.4.3)
- Contemporaneous records framework — 12 document types
- Variation order validation checklist
- Programme baseline and update obligations
- Sub-contract back-to-back gap analysis template
- Final account readiness scorecard
Access the Checklist
No spam. One email with the PDF. Unsubscribe at any time.
Every clause is a position.
We find yours.
Our instructions span NEC3, NEC4, FIDIC Red & Yellow Books, JCT Standard, and bespoke PFI/PPP agreements. We do not advise on the law — we advise on the contract.
Compensation Event Management
End-to-end CE management from early warning through accepted quotation. We draft the quotation, model the programme impact, and ensure clause 61.3 compliance before the employer's assessment window opens.
Extension of Time Claims
Cause-and-effect analysis, critical path methodology, and contemporaneous record assembly for Sub-Clause 8.5 and 20.2 submissions.
Delay & Disruption Analysis
Windows analysis, time impact analysis, and collapsed-as-built methodology. We select the approach most likely to survive cross-examination.
Variation Order Valuation
Daywork schedules, star rates, and fair valuation arguments. We recover the true cost of variations that employers have valued at bill rates that bear no relation to the actual scope.
Back-to-Back Sub-Contract Review
Identification of flow-down gaps, onerous terms, and pay-when-paid provisions that transfer main contract risk without the subcontractor's knowledge.
Final Account Strategy
Preparation, negotiation, and dispute management of final accounts from first draft through settlement. We structure the narrative, manage the record, and hold the line.