Construction Claims and Responses: Effective Writing and Presentation

Andy Hewitt, FICCP, FCIOB, FCInstCES, FQSi has over 40 years' experience in the construction industry, gained in the UK, Africa and the Middle East. His earlier career included senior positions with contractors, subcontractors and consultants in project, commercial and contract management roles, during which time he worked on many prestigious projects. For the past 15 years or so, Andy has specialised in contractual matters, claims and disputes, culminating in him becoming a partner in Hewitt Decipher Partnership, offering consultancy services relating to contractual and commercial matters, claims and disputes. Andy is also a partner in Claims Class, a specialist organisation that offers training and education on claims, the FIDIC contracts and related subjects. Hundreds of companies and individuals have benefitted from Andy's experience, delivered via Claims Class' internationally acclaimed workshops and e-courses.

About the Author ix Foreword by Roger Knowles xi Acknowledgements xviii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Why is it Necessary to Produce a Fully Detailed and Professionally Presented Claim or Response? 1 The Purpose of the Book 3 Things to be Considered Before Writing the Claim 5 The form of Contract used in the Examples 8 Definitions 9 The example projects 10 Chapter 2: Contract Administration for Claims and Claims Avoidance 11 Introduction 11 The contract documents 11 Programmes and Planning 14 Records, Records, Records 17 Chronology and database 19 Notices 22 Dispute Adjudication Boards and the Like 24 Procedures 25 Chapter 3: Types of Claim 27 Claims for Variations 27 Claims for Extensions of Time 32 Claims for Additional Payment Due to Prolongation 35 Acceleration and Disruption Claims 37 Claims for Damages Under Law 40 Interim and Final Claims 41 Chapter 4: Presentation 43 Presentation of the Submission or Review Document 43 Writing Style 44 Key points for claim presentation 48 Making the Document User-Friendly 48 Making the submission or review a stand-alone document 49 Superfluous and irrelevant information 50 Do not Assume that the Reviewer has Prior Knowledge of the Project or Circumstances 50 The importance of leading the reviewer to a logical conclusion 51 Explanations, summaries and conclusions 52 Use of the Narrative to Explain other Documents 52 Substantiation by the use of Exhibits and Additional Documents 53 Compilation of the document 54 Summary of the Principles Covered in this Chapter 56 Chapter 5: Essential Elements of a Successful Claim 57 Introduction 57 Summary of the principles covered in this chapter 81 Chapter 6: The preliminaries to the claim 83 Introduction 83 Chapter 7: The Extension of Time Claim 107 The Method of Delay Analysis 108 The Extension of Time Claim 112 Chapter 8: The Claim for Additional Payment 129 Calculations 142 Chapter 9: The appendices and editing 147 Arrangement of the appendices 147 Editing and review 152 Chapter 10: Claim Responses and Determinations 155 Chapter 11: A note on dispute boards 183 Information Sources 191 FIDIC Clause References 193 Index 195