Administering Extension of Time under National and International Standard Forms of Contracts: A Contractor’s Perspective

Abstract

Time management is one of the most important factors contributing to the success of construction projects. It is not uncommon that many construction projects fail to meet their deadline and finish late for a variety of reasons that have been already studied extensively in the literature. To this end, it is imperative to know the different contractual procedures associated with extension of time. In spite of the fact that these provisions are usually expressly stated in each contract, they are sometimes misunderstood and/or misapplied. This can result in incurring lots of short- and long-term losses. The objective of this paper is to present contract administration guidelines for appropriate utilization and administration of the extension of time clauses under the most widely used construction contracts both nationally and internationally. The authors studied the extension of time provisions under traditional standard construction contracts and/or general conditions of the construction contracts including those published by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), ConsensusDOCS, the Engineers’ Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC), the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), the World Bank, the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT), and the New Engineering Contract (NEC). In doing so, the authors used a three-step research methodology that included reviewing the conditions for entitlement, the associated required procedures, and the interrelated repercussions for failure to follow notice and claim provisions. Consequently, a comparative analysis between the contracts under investigation was provided. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study of its kind, and is the most comprehensive in its approach and associated analyses. This study should promote efficient and effective management of claims for additional time, and would better enable the contractor as well as other associated parties to mitigate time-related consequences during the course of their projects.