Every project runs into events outside the contractor's control, and very few of them result in an approved extension. The reason is almost never that the claim was invalid — it is that the record was built after the fact, once the schedule was already blown.
In this article
- A delay you cannot prove did not happen
- Notice comes first and it is usually the thing that kills the claim
- You need a schedule that existed beforehand
- Show the critical path, not the inconvenience
- The daily report is the evidence
- Show what you did about it
- Keep time and money separate
- Where to start
- Frequently asked questions
- Frequently asked questions
A delay you cannot prove did not happen
Every project runs into events outside the contractor's control. Very few of them result in an approved extension, and the reason is almost never that the claim was invalid. It is that the record was built after the fact, from memory, once the schedule was already blown.
Notice comes first and it is usually the thing that kills the claim
Nearly every contract requires written notice within a stated number of days. Miss that window and the merits stop mattering. Send the notice when the event occurs, even if the impact is not yet known — that is exactly what the clause contemplates.
A notice that says an event has occurred and the impact is being evaluated is complete. Waiting until you can quantify it is how the deadline passes.
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You need a schedule that existed beforehand
A delay claim is a comparison, and without an accepted baseline schedule there is nothing to compare to. If the baseline was never submitted or never accepted, the argument becomes about your planning rather than about the event.
Show the critical path, not the inconvenience
An event that consumes float delays nothing contractually. The claim has to demonstrate that the event affected an activity on the critical path and pushed completion. This is the point most claims fail on, and it is the reason schedule updates during the project matter more than the claim letter at the end.
The daily report is the evidence
Contemporaneous records beat reconstructions every time. Crew counts, weather, deliveries, who was idle and why, photographs with dates. A reviewer trusts a report written that afternoon and discounts a narrative assembled six months later, and they are right to.
Show what you did about it
You are generally obligated to mitigate. Document the resequencing you attempted, the trades you moved, the overtime you considered. A claim that shows the contractor absorbed what it could and quantifies only the remainder is far more credible than one asserting the full duration.
Keep time and money separate
An extension of time and compensation for it are different requests with different bases. Mixing them into one letter invites a rejection of both. Ask for the extension first and clearly, then address cost.
Where to start
Send written notice inside the contractual window, maintain an accepted baseline and update it, tie the event to the critical path, keep daily reports as they happen, document your mitigation, and separate the time request from the money request.
A claim assembled at the end is competing against a record that was never kept.
We help builders install the notice discipline, the schedule maintenance and the daily documentation that make a delay claim a matter of record rather than argument.
Frequently asked questions
When do I have to give notice of a delay?
Within the window your contract states, and the notice goes out when the event occurs — not when you can quantify the impact. Missing that window is the single most common reason valid claims fail, because once it passes the merits stop mattering. A notice saying an event has occurred and the impact is being evaluated is complete and sufficient; waiting until you can put a number on it is exactly how the deadline passes. Keep the request for an extension of time separate from the request for compensation, since they are different claims with different bases and mixing them into one letter invites a rejection of both.
What evidence does a delay claim actually need?
An accepted baseline schedule, because a delay claim is a comparison and without a baseline there is nothing to compare to. A demonstration that the event affected an activity on the critical path and pushed completion — an event that only consumes float delays nothing contractually, and this is where most claims fail. Contemporaneous daily reports with crew counts, weather, deliveries, who was idle and why, plus dated photographs. And evidence of mitigation: the resequencing you attempted and the trades you moved, because a claim that shows you absorbed what you could and quantifies only the remainder is far more credible.