Contract Administration Flashcards
Talk me through procedure you’ve followed for making payment in a contract.
On project London, you mention the contractor wanted to remove the damages. In practice how did you advise your client on the risks?
- Provision must state NIL or ‘n/a’ within the particulars
- Amending the contract to remove the provision entirely
If the damages provision was left blank, how would that impact the contract?
- The contract assumes unliquidated damages apply
- Unliquidated damages are damages payable for breach, but the amount is not pre-agreed
- Compensation is at large
- The amount of compensation is to be determined after the breach occurs by a court
- Employer will have to prove actual loss incurred
What are the pitfalls of unliquidated damages?
- It can be harder to prove losses incurred
What are the advantages of unliquidated damages?
- it allows for recovery of losses which may have been impossible to foresee
- or to estimate with any certainty before the breach.
What are the advantages of liquidated damages?
- Do not require proof of loss after the event/ or prove actua; damage
- simply deducted by the employer under contractual mechanisms in the contract
- agreed in advanced and stated in the contract
In your role as project QS how did you contribute to an assessment of an extension of time claim?
- Refer to the contract and tender documents to see if genuine change occurred
- Ascertain the direct loss and/or expense
- Feed these responses back to the CA
As a QS what responsibilities do you have as a QS which relates to the completion of a project?
- Settling the final account
- Releasing half retention
What is the purpose of retention?
- Provides the client with some security that the contractor will return to correct any defects during the retification period
Why is retention taken incrementally?
- Not taken in a lump sum at the beginning of the project as it may impact contractors cash flow,
- also if the contract sum is adjusted retention is over/ under-valued
Level 1 - Final account
What are the time-bars under the JCT to settle the project final account?
- Depends on standard form
- Traditional - not later than 3-months after information supplied by the contractor (which should not arrive any later than 6-months after issue of practical completion certificate.)
- D&B - not later than 2-months after information supplied by the contractor (which should not arrive any later than 3-months after issue of practical completion certificate.)
What provision does the CA refer to - to form their opinion on EOT?
- Relevant Events
What mechanisms within the JCT is used for assessing any costs relating to the contractors EOT claim
- Relevant Matters
- Loss & expense
As CA what methods are there to assess delay?
- Overview of the facts (cause and extent of delay)
- Planned v actual progess (as built)
- Critical path analyses
What is the process of an EOT claim?
- The Contractor will notify the CA of delay
- CA can then request further information from the contractor
- CA should refer to the relevant events to ensure the claim is eligible
- In principle the CA assess whether or not the delay has had an effect on contractual completion date and what that effect is.
- Response is due as reasonably practicable, but within 12-weeks of receipt of ‘required particulars’ (request information)
