Scl delay protocol_reprint

THE SOCIETY OF
CONSTRUCTION LAW
DELAY AND DISRUPTION
PROTOCOL
October 2002
October 2004 reprint
www.scl.org.uk
www.eotprotocol.com

Published by the Society of Construction Law,
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© Society of Construction Law October 2002
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SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol: October 2002 1
CONTENTS
Introduction.................................................................................................. 3
Core Principles relating to delay and compensation .................... 5
Guidance notes
1. Guidance Section 1 .............................................................................. 10
Guidelines on the Protocol’s position on Core Principles and on other
matters relating to delay and compensation
1.1 Introduction.............................................................................. 10
1.2 Extensions of time.................................................................... 10
1.3 Float as it relates to extensions of time.................................... 13
1.4 Concurrency as it relates to extensions of time ....................... 15
1.5 Mitigation of delay................................................................... 18
1.6 Financial consequences of delay.............................................. 18
1.7 Valuation of variations............................................................. 19
1.8 Compensation for prolongation ............................................... 20
1.9 Relevance of tender allowances for prolongation and
disruption compensation.......................................................... 21
1.10 Concurrency as it relates to compensation for prolongation ... 22
1.11 Time for assessment of prolongation costs.............................. 24
1.12 Float as it relates to compensation........................................... 24
1.13 Mitigation of loss..................................................................... 26
1.14 Global claims ........................................................................... 26
1.15 Claims for payment of interest................................................. 27
1.16 Head office overheads.............................................................. 29
1.17 Profit ........................................................................................ 30
1.18 Acceleration............................................................................. 30
1.19 Disruption ................................................................................ 31
1.20 Claim preparation costs: are they recoverable? ....................... 34
Guidelines on preparing and maintaining programmes and records
2.1 Introduction.............................................................................. 35
2.2 The programme........................................................................ 35
2.3 Software................................................................................... 40
2.4 Records .................................................................................... 41
Guidelines on dealing with extensions of time during the course
of the project
3.1 Introduction.............................................................................. 42
3.2 Extension of time procedure.................................................... 42

Guidelines on dealing with disputed extension of time issues
after completion of the project – retrospective delay analysis
The terms of the contract ......................................................... 46
The nature of proof required.................................................... 46
The factual material available.................................................. 47
The amount in dispute and the cost of the analysis ................. 48
5. Concluding notes and dedication........................................................ 50
Appendices
Appendix A – Definitions and glossary................................................ 52
Appendix B – Model specification clause ............................................ 63
Appendix C – Model records clauses ................................................... 71
Appendix D – Graphics illustrating points in this Protocol.................. 73
SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol: October 20022

INTRODUCTION
A. The object of the Protocol is to provide useful guidance on some of
the common issues that arise on construction contracts, where one
party wishes to recover from the other an extension of time and/or
compensation for the additional time spent and the resources used to
complete the project. The purpose of the Protocol is to provide a
means by which the parties can resolve these matters and avoid
unnecessary disputes.
B. It is not intended that the Protocol should be a contract document.
Nor does it purport to take precedence over the express terms of a
contract or be a statement of the law. It represents a scheme for
dealing with delay and disruption issues that is balanced and viable.
C. The Protocol recognises that construction contracts must provide the
mechanisms to manage change. Although all the common standard
forms of contract provide for the assessment of delay and
compensation for prolongation, they do not all do so completely, or in
exactly the same way. The Protocol contains guidance as to matters
which should be addressed when the contract is being drafted and
negotiated. The guidance is intended to be generally applicable to
any contract that provides for the management of delay and
disruption.
D. The aim is that, in time, most contracts will adopt the Protocol’s
guidance as the best way to deal with delay and disruption issues.
Until such time, it is acknowledged that the Protocol may have
limited application to contracts that have been drafted and negotiated
without the Protocol in mind, particularly contracts in existence at the
time the Protocol was published. However, much of the guidance in
the Protocol covers matters that are not dealt with by the standard
forms of contract and can be applied by the contracting parties
without causing conflict. In applying the Protocol to disputes arising
out of contracts entered into after the Protocol is published, it has to
be borne in mind that the Protocol merely represents a set of balanced
views on a number of issues, some of which do not have absolute
answers.
E. Delay and disruption issues that ought to be managed within the
contract all too often become disputes that have to be decided by third
parties (adjudicators, dispute review boards, arbitrators, judges etc).
The number of such cases could be substantially reduced by the
introduction of a transparent and unified approach to the
understanding of programmed works, their expression in records, and
identifying the consequences of delay and disruption.

F. The Protocol is not put forward as a benchmark of current (2002)
good practice throughout the construction industry, though the aim is
that the administration of contracts will in due course meet the
standards of the Protocol. The cost of achieving this standard should
be no more than is required for the best of current standard forms of
contract.
G. Users of the Protocol should apply its recommendations with
common sense. The Protocol is intended to be a balanced document,
reflecting equally the interests of all parties to the construction
process.
H. In the on-line version, defined terms in the Protocol are hyper-linked
to their definition in Appendix A on the first occasion they appear in
the text. Obviously, the hyper-links are usable only where the
Protocol is being viewed on screen. In order to make the Protocol as
easy to read as possible, the use of capitalisation for defined terms has
been kept to a minimum.
I. The Protocol has been produced by a drafting sub-committee formed
by a group of members of the Society of Construction Law. The
membership of the drafting sub-committee is set out on page 51. The
views and opinions expressed and the aims identified in the Protocol
are those adopted by the drafting sub-committee. They are not
necessarily the views and opinions or aims either of any particular
member of the drafting sub-committee or of all the members of the
Society as a whole.
J. The information, recommendations and/or advice contained in this
Protocol (including its Guidance Sections and Appendices) are
intended for use as a general statement and guide only. Neither the
Society of Construction Law nor any committee or member of the
Society nor any member of the group that drafted the Protocol accept
any liability for any loss or damage which may be suffered as a result
of the use in any way of the information, recommendations and/or
advice contained herein and any person using such information or
drafting contracts, specifications or other documents based thereon
must in all cases take appropriate professional advice on the matters
referred to in this publication and are themselves solely responsible
for ensuring that any wording taken from this document is consistent
with and appropriate to the remainder of their material.
The Society of Construction Law welcomes feedback on the Protocol
and the Guidance Notes: please contact the Society at
feedback@eotprotocol.com or the address on the back cover.

CORE PRINCIPLES RELATING TO DELAY
AND COMPENSATION
These are the core statements of principle in the Protocol. Guidance as to the
background to these points of principle is contained in Guidance Section 1
(pages 10-34). Section references, ‘hyperlinked’ in the on-line version, are
provided with each.
1. Programme and records
To reduce the number of disputes relating to delay, the Contractor
should prepare and the Contract Administrator (CA) should accept a
properly prepared programme showing the manner and sequence in
which the Contractor plans to carry out the works. The programme
should be updated to record actual progress and any extensions of
time (EOTs) granted. If this is done, then the programme can be used
as a tool for managing change, determining EOTs and periods of time
for which compensation may be due. Contracting parties should also
reach a clear agreement on the type of records that should be kept
(see Guidance Section 2).
2. Purpose of extension of time
The benefit to the Contractor of EOT is only to relieve the Contractor
of liability for damages for delay (usually liquidated damages (LDs)
for any period prior to the extended contract completion date. The
benefit of an EOT for the Employer is that it establishes a new
contract completion date, and prevents time for completion of the
works becoming ‘at large’ (see Guidance Section 1.2).
3. Entitlement to extension of time
Applications for EOT should be made and dealt with as close in time
as possible to the delay event that gives rise to the application (see
Guidance Section 1.2.4). The Contractor will potentially be entitled
to an EOT only for those events or causes of delay in respect of which
the Employer has assumed risk and responsibility (called in the
Protocol Employer Risk Events). The parties should attempt so far as
possible to deal with the impact of Employer Risk Events as the work
proceeds, both in terms of EOT and compensation.

4. Procedure for granting extension of time
The EOT should be granted to the extent that the Employer Risk
Event is reasonably predicted to prevent the works being completed
by the then prevailing contract completion date (see Guidance Section
3.2.6). The goal of the EOT procedure is the ascertainment of the
appropriate contractual entitlement to an EOT; the procedure is not to
be based on whether or not the Contractor needs an EOT in order not
to be liable for liquidated damages (see Guidance Section 1.2.9).
5. Effect of delay
For an EOT to be granted, it is not necessary for the Employer Risk
Event already to have begun to affect the Contractor’s progress with
the works, or for the effect of the Employer Risk Event to have ended
(see Guidance Section 1.2.12).
6. Incremental review of extension of time
Where the full effect of an Employer Risk Event cannot be predicted
with certainty at the time of initial assessment by the CA, the CA
should grant an EOT for the then predictable effect. The EOT should
be considered by the CA at intervals as the actual impact of the
Employer Risk Event unfolds and the EOT increased (but not
decreased, unless there are express contract terms permitting this) if
appropriate (see Guidance Section 1.2.14).
7. Float as it relates to time
Unless there is express provision to the contrary in the contract,
where there is remaining float in the programme at the time of an
Employer Risk Event, an EOT should only be granted to the extent
that the Employer Delay is predicted to reduce to below zero the total
float on the activity paths affected by the Employer Delay (see
Guidance Section 1.3.1).
8. Float as it relates to compensation
If as a result of an Employer Delay, the Contractor is prevented from
completing the works by the Contractor’s planned completion date
(being a date earlier than the contract completion date), the
Contractor should in principle be entitled to be paid the costs directly
caused by the Employer Delay, notwithstanding that there is no delay
to the contract completion date (and therefore no entitlement to an
EOT), provided also that at the time they enter into the contract, the

Employer is aware of the Contractor’s intention to complete the
works prior to the contract completion date, and that intention is
realistic and achievable (see Guidance Section 1.12.1).
9. Concurrent delay – its effect on entitlement to extension
of time
Where Contractor Delay to Completion occurs or has effect
concurrently with Employer Delay to Completion, the Contractor’s
concurrent delay should not reduce any EOT due (see Guidance
Section 1.4.1 and 1.4.7).
10. Concurrent delay – its effect on entitlement to
compensation for prolongation
If the Contractor incurs additional costs that are caused both by
Employer Delay and concurrent Contractor Delay, then the
Contractor should only recover compensation to the extent it is able
to separately identify the additional costs caused by the Employer
Delay from those caused by the Contractor Delay. If it would have
incurred the additional costs in any event as a result of Contractor
Delays, the Contractor will not be entitled to recover those additional
costs (see Guidance Section 1.10.1 and 1.10.4).
11. Identification of float and concurrency
Accurate identification of float and concurrency is only possible with
the benefit of a proper programme, properly updated.
12. After the event delay analysis
The Protocol recommends that, in deciding entitlement to EOT, the
adjudicator, judge or arbitrator should so far as is practicable put
him/herself in the position of the CA at the time the Employer Risk
Event occurred (see Guidance Section 4.19).
13. Mitigation of delay and mitigation of loss
The Contractor has a general duty to mitigate the effect on its works
of Employer Risk Events. Subject to express contract wording or
agreement to the contrary, the duty to mitigate does not extend to
requiring the Contractor to add extra resources or to work outside its
planned working hours (see Guidance Section 1.5.1 and 1.13.1). The
Contractor’s duty to mitigate its loss has two aspects – first, the

Contractor must take reasonable steps to minimise its loss; and
secondly, the Contractor must not take unreasonable steps that
increase its loss.
14. Link between extension of time and compensation
Entitlement to an EOT does not automatically lead to entitlement to
compensation (and vice versa) (see Guidance Section 1.6.2).
15. Valuation of variations
Where practicable, the total likely effect of variations should be pre-
agreed between the Employer/CA and the Contractor, to arrive if
possible at a fixed price of a variation, to include not only the direct
costs (labour, plant and materials) but also the time-related costs, an
agreed EOT and the necessary revisions to the programme (see
16. Basis of calculation of compensation for prolongation
Unless expressly provided for otherwise (eg by evaluation based on
contract rates), compensation for prolongation should not be paid for
anything other than work actually done, time actually taken up or loss
and/or expense actually suffered. In other words, the compensation
for prolongation caused other than by variations is based on the actual
additional cost incurred by the Contractor (see Guidance Section
1.8.2). The objective is to put the Contractor in the same financial
position it would have been if the Employer Risk Event had not
occurred.
17. Relevance of tender allowances
The tender allowances have limited relevance for the evaluation of
the costs of prolongation and disruption caused by breach of contract
or any other cause that requires the evaluation of additional costs (see
18. Period for evaluation of compensation
Once it is established that compensation for prolongation is due, the
evaluation of the sum due is made by reference to the period when the
effect of the Employer Risk Event was felt, not by reference to the
extended period at the end of the contract (see Guidance
Section 1.11.1).

19. Global claims
The not uncommon practice of contractors making composite or
global claims without substantiating cause and effect is discouraged
by the Protocol and rarely accepted by the courts (see Guidance
Section 1.14).
20. Acceleration
Where the contract provides for acceleration, payment for the
acceleration should be based on the terms of the contract. Where the
contract does not provide for acceleration but the Contractor and the
Employer agree that accelerative measures should be undertaken, the
basis of payment should be agreed before the acceleration is
commenced. It is not recommended that a claim for so-called
constructive acceleration be made. Instead, prior to any acceleration
measures, steps should be taken by either party to have the dispute or
difference about entitlement to EOT resolved in accordance with the
dispute resolution procedures applicable to the contract (see Guidance
Section 1.18).
21. Disruption
Disruption (as distinct from delay) is disturbance, hindrance or
interruption to a Contractor’s normal working methods, resulting in
lower efficiency. If caused by the Employer, it may give rise to a
right to compensation either under the contract or as a breach of
contract (see Guidance Section 1.19).
There follow, on pages 10-49, some Guidance Notes, as follows:
Guidance Section 1 to the Protocol gives guidance as to why the Protocol
takes the position it does on the recurring Core Principles it deals with. It also
contains additional material on other matters that come up repeatedly in delay
claims.
Guidance Section 2 is a good practice guide on the preparation of programmes
and records, and their subsequent use for the management of extensions of
time.
Guidance Section 3 is a good practice guide on how to deal with extension of
time applications during the course of a project.
Guidance Section 4 provides guidance as to how to analyse causes of and
responsibility for delay where a project has been delayed, and the analysis is
only conducted after the project is completed.

GUIDANCE NOTES
Guidance Section 1
1. Guidelines on the Protocol’s position on Core
Principles and on other matters relating to delay
and compensation
Introduction
1.1 These are guidelines to explain the Protocol’s position on Core
Principles relating to delay and compensation. This section also
contains additional material on other matters that come up repeatedly
in delay claims. It is not intended that these Guidance Notes should
be incorporated into a contract. The structure of this section is to re-
state the core statements of principle from the Protocol and then
explain or expand on them.
1.2 Extensions of time
1.2.1 The benefit to the Contractor of an EOT is only to relieve
the Contractor of liability for damages for delay (usually
LDs) for any period prior to the extended contract
completion date. The benefit of an EOT for the
Employer is that it establishes a new contract completion
date, and prevents time for completion of the works
becoming ‘at large’.
Guidance
1.2.2 It is often incorrectly thought that an entitlement to an EOT
automatically carries with it an entitlement to compensation
for prolongation costs during the period of the EOT. The
main effect of an EOT is merely that the Contractor is
relieved of its liability for liquidated damages during the
period of the extension. Its entitlement to compensation is
usually to be found in other provisions of the contract. The
benefit of an EOT for the Employer is that it establishes a
new contract completion date, and prevents time for
completion of the works becoming ‘at large’ (see Guidance
Section 1.4.12).
1.2.3 If the good practice promoted elsewhere in the Guidance
Notes with regard to keeping of records and preparation,
acceptance and updating of programmes is followed, then the

scope for factual disagreement about a claimed entitlement to
an EOT will be reduced.
1.2.4 Applications for EOT should be made and dealt with as
close in time as possible to the delay event that gives rise
to the application.
Guidance
1.2.5 As noted in Appendix A, ‘CA’ is the Contract Administrator,
which includes the Architect or Engineer and the Employer
itself where there is no independent person appointed under
the contract to deal with matters such as extensions of time.
1.2.6 As explained in Guidance Section 1.2.2, entitlement to an
EOT does not automatically lead to an entitlement to
compensation for prolongation. Standard forms of contract
often provide that some kinds of delay events which are at
the risk of the Employer so far as time for completion is
concerned carry no entitlement to compensation for
prolongation; delay resulting from adverse weather
conditions being the most common example. They are
sometimes misleadingly called ‘neutral events’; in fact, they
are only neutral in the sense that one party bears the time risk
and the other party bears the cost risk. The Protocol calls
them ‘non-compensable Employer Risk Events’.
1.2.7 Most if not all the standard forms of contract contain
obligations on the part of the Contractor to give notice to the
CA as soon as an Employer Risk Event occurs that the
Contractor considers entitles it to an EOT. Some require
notice of the occurrence of an Employer Risk Event
irrespective of whether it is likely to affect the contract
completion date (ie what the Protocol refers to as Employer
Delay to Completion), and some require notice of all events
that adversely affect progress irrespective of liability or
consequence. In some standard forms these notices are
expressed to be conditions precedent (ie pre-conditions) to
entitlement. Whatever the contract says, the Contractor
should give notice to the CA of any Employer Delays as
soon as possible. The CA should also notify the Contractor
as early as possible of any Employer Delays of which it is
aware.
1.2.8 The parties should attempt so far as possible to deal with the
impact of Employer Risk Events as the work proceeds, both
in terms of EOT and compensation. Each EOT application
should be assessed as soon as possible after the event occurs,
and in any event not later than one month after the
application has been received by the CA. CAs should bear in

mind that it is permissible to deal with EOTs incrementally
(see Guidance Section 1.2.14). The Protocol’s recommended
procedure for assessing EOTs using the programme is set out
in Guidance Section 3.
1.2.9 The goal of the EOT procedure is the ascertainment of
the appropriate contractual entitlement to an EOT; the
procedure is not to be based on whether or not the
Contractor needs an EOT in order not to be liable for
liquidated damages.
1.2.10 If the CA does not make a determination of the EOT
entitlement resulting from an Employer Risk Event when an
EOT is in fact due, there is a danger that the EOT
mechanism may fail, leaving the Contractor only obliged to
finish the works within a reasonable time, having regard to
the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract (with
the uncertainty which that creates). For this reason, a
competently drafted construction contract should contain
provisions entitling the CA on its own initiative to determine
an EOT, even if the Contractor has not applied for one, or
has applied with insufficient information. A properly drafted
EOT clause will also contain general wording to allow an
EOT to be granted in respect of acts (or omissions) of
prevention or breach of contract by the Employer. Such
wording is needed because the English courts have held that
wording such as ‘any other special circumstances’ does not
cover breaches by the Employer.
1.2.11 Generally, an EOT should be granted to the extent that the
Employer Risk Event is predicted to prevent the works being
completed by the then prevailing contract completion date.
This process requires consideration of the available float,
which should be dealt with as provided in Guidance Section
1.3. It also requires consideration of issues of concurrency,
which should be dealt with as provided in Guidance Section
1.4. Illustrations of the application of the Protocol to
different situations are shown graphically in Appendix D.
1.2.12 For an EOT to be granted, it is not necessary for the
Employer Risk Event already to have begun to affect the
Contractor’s progress with the works, or for the effect of
the Employer Risk Event to have ended.
1.2.13 The practice of some CAs of waiting to see what the full
effect an Employer Risk Event has on the works before
dealing with the Contractor’s application for EOT is not
good practice. If the Contractor is entitled to an EOT, it
should receive it, and the CA should not wait to see if the

Contractor actually needs the EOT, in order not to be liable
for liquidated damages.
1.2.14 Where the full effect of an Employer Risk Event cannot be
predicted with certainty at the time of initial assessment by
the CA, the CA should grant an EOT for the then predictable
effect. The EOT should be considered by the CA at intervals
as the actual impact of the Employer Risk Event unfolds and
the EOT increased (but not decreased, unless there are
express contract terms permitting this) if appropriate.
1.3 Float as it relates to extensions of time
1.3.1 Unless there is express provision to the contrary in the
contract, where there is remaining float in the
programme at the time of an Employer Risk Event, an
EOT should only be granted to the extent that the
Employer Delay is predicted to reduce to below zero the
total float on the activity paths affected by the Employer
Delay.
Introduction
1.3.2 Float is the amount of time by which an activity or group of
activities may be shifted in time without causing delay to a
contract completion date. Appendix A explains the different
types of float. The date in question may be a sectional
completion date, the overall completion of the works or an
interim milestone. The ‘ownership’ of float causes particular
arguments in disputes over entitlement to EOT. A
Contractor may argue that it ‘owns’ the float, because, in
planning how it proposes to carry out the works, it has
allowed additional or float time to give itself some flexibility
in the event that it is not able to carry out the works as
quickly as it planned. If, therefore, there is any delay to the
Contractor’s progress for which the Contractor is not
responsible, it may contend that it is entitled to an EOT, even
if the delay to progress will not result in the contract
completion date being missed, but merely in erosion of its
float. On the other hand an Employer may typically say that
the Contractor has no contractual remedy for being prevented
from completing the works at any time prior to the contract
completion date, and is therefore not entitled to an EOT
unless the delay to progress will result in a contract
completion date being missed. So (the Employer may say)
the project owns the float.

Guidance
1.3.3 Parties should ensure that this issue is addressed in their
contracts. The expression ‘float’ rarely if ever appears in
standard form conditions of contract. Where the wording of
the EOT clause in a contract is such that an EOT is only to
be granted if the Employer Delay delays completion beyond
the contract completion date, then the likely effect of that
wording is that total float has to be used up before an EOT
will be due. If the wording of the EOT clause is such that an
EOT will be due whenever the Employer Delay makes the
Contractor’s planned completion date later than it would
have been if it were not for that delay, then total float will
probably not be available for the benefit of the Employer in
the event of Employer Delay. Some conditions of contract
give no indication as to whether an Employer Delay has to
affect the contract completion date or merely the
Contractor’s planned completion date before an EOT is due.
1.3.4 Each of the permutations described above can create
unfairness and/or uncertainty. Under contracts where the
Employer Delay has to affect the contract completion date, if
an Employer Delay occurs first and uses up all the total float,
then the Contractor can find itself in delay and paying LDs
as a result of a subsequent Contractor Delay which would not
have been critical if the Employer Delay had not occurred
first. Under contracts where the Employer Delay only has to
affect the Contractor’s planned completion date, the
Contractor is potentially entitled to an EOT every time the
Employer or CA delays any of its activities, irrespective of
their criticality to meeting the contract completion date.
Under the type of contract that is silent or ambiguous about
float, uncertainty exists and disputes are likely to follow.
1.3.5 Many conditions of contract have a provision that allows a
final review of any EOT granted or not granted, reflecting
what is perceived to be fair or reasonable. That provides the
potential to remove some of the unfairness indicated above.
But reliance on what a CA perceives to be fair or reasonable
is not always a good recipe for certainty. Where EOTs are
granted retrospectively, it is possible to review separately the
effect of different types of delay and make decisions on EOT
entitlement, again based on fairness or reasonableness. But
it is a very important principle of this Protocol that
applications for EOT should be made and dealt with as close
in time to the delay event that gives rise to them, and the
‘wait and see’ approach should be discouraged (see Core
Principle 3, and Guidance Section 1.2.4).

1.3.6 The wording at the beginning of Section 1.3.1 is what the
Protocol considers is appropriate in circumstances where the
parties in their contract have not made clear provision for
how float should be dealt with, and in the light of the
position it takes on the relevance of float to compensation
(see Core Principle 10). It believes it to be consistent with
current judicial thinking, which is that an Employer Delay
has to be critical (to meeting the contract completion date)
before an EOT will be due. It has the effect that float is not
time for the exclusive use or benefit of either the Employer
or the Contractor.
1.3.7 It follows from this approach that a Contractor has no
entitlement to an EOT merely because an Employer Risk
Event prevents the Contractor from completing the works
earlier than the contract completion date or because an
Employer Delay to Progress takes away the Contractor’s
float on any particular activity.
1.3.8 If the Contractor wants to make allowance for the possibility
of Contractor Delays, then it should include in the activity
durations in its programme such additional time as the
Contractor believes is necessary to reflect the risk of such
delays to those activities. Alternatively, it may identify such
allowances as separate activities in the programme entitled
‘Contingency for … [eg groundwork]’. Either is perfectly
acceptable and prudent planning practice.
1.3.9 Accurate identification of float is only possible with the
benefit of a proper programme, properly updated.
Recommendations for the preparation of such a programme
are set out in Guidance Section 2.
1.4 Concurrency as it relates to extensions of time
1.4.1 Where Contractor Delay to Completion occurs
concurrently with Employer Delay to Completion, the
Contractor’s concurrent delay should not reduce any
EOT due.
Introduction
1.4.2 Concurrency is a contentious issue both because there are
differing views on the correct approach to concurrency when
analysing entitlement to EOT and because there are
differences about the meaning of concurrency itself.
1.4.3 The aim of this part of the Protocol is therefore to provide
guidance in order that issues of concurrency can be
recognised and disposed of in an agreed manner as part of

the overall delay analysis. The guidance given is a
compromise, taking account of the different competing
arguments, but represents what the Protocol considers to be
the most appropriate solution.
Guidance
1.4.4 True concurrent delay is the occurrence of two or more delay
events at the same time, one an Employer Risk Event, the
other a Contractor Risk Event, and the effects of which are
felt at the same time. True concurrent delay will be a rare
occurrence. A time when it can occur is at the
commencement date (where for example, the Employer fails
to give access to the site, but the Contractor has no resources
mobilised to carry out any work), but it can arise at any time.
1.4.5 Where true concurrent delay occurs, the Contractor should
nevertheless be entitled to an EOT for the Employer Delay to
Completion, dealt with in accordance with Guidance Section
1.2. Separate analyses should be carried out for the
concurrent delay events. The Employer Risk Event should
be analysed first.
1.4.6 The term ‘concurrent delay’ is often used to describe the
situation where two or more delay events arise at different
times, but the effects of them are felt (in whole or in part) at
the same time. To avoid confusion, this is more correctly
termed the ‘concurrent effect’ of sequential delay events.
1.4.7 Where Employer Risk Events and Contractor Risk
Events occur sequentially but have concurrent effects,
here again any Contractor Delay should not reduce the
amount of EOT due to the Contractor as a result of the
Employer Delay. Again, it will be necessary to carry out
analyses of each delay (see 1.4.5 above). This analysis will
be important for determining whether any compensation will
be due for the Employer Delay (see Guidance Sections 1.8
and 1.10). Analyses should be carried out for each event
separately and strictly in the sequence in which they arose.
1.4.8 Where an Employer Risk Event occurs after the contract
completion date, in a situation where failure to complete by
the contract completion date has been caused by Contractor
Delays, the principle set out in Section 1.4.7 above should
apply, except where the Employer Risk Event is a non-
compensable Employer Risk Event. In such an event, no
EOT (or compensation) should be due. Where an EOT is
due after the contract completion date, the Employer Risk
Event does not exonerate the Contractor for all its delays
prior to the Employer Risk Event occurring. The effect of

the Employer Risk Event should be assessed as described
above and any EOT found due should simply be added to the
contract completion date.
1.4.9 Illustrations showing the application of the Protocol to
situations where there is float, concurrent delay, concurrent
effects of sequential delays, and the effects of Contractor
recovery plans are attached as Appendix D.
1.4.10 Accurate identification of concurrency is only possible with
the benefit of a proper programme. The Protocol’s
recommendations for the preparation of such a programme
are set out in Guidance Section 2.
1.4.11 Because judges only come to consider concurrency issues
after the delays have occurred and disputes have arisen,
current English law focuses on an ‘after the event’ analysis
of cause and effect of the different delays, and/or which of a
number of delays is the dominant one. The Protocol takes a
different approach, consistent with its objective of
encouraging parties to deal with EOT applications as close in
time as possible to the delay event that gives rise to the
application and discouraging the ‘wait and see’ approach
(see Core Principle 3 and Guidance Section 1.2). The simple
approach to concurrency adopted by the Protocol aims to
provide contracting parties with clarity and certainty about
entitlement to EOT at the time delay events occur, rather
than waiting for their full effect to be felt and then analysed
afterwards.
1.4.12 The position the Protocol takes on concurrency is also
influenced by the English law ‘prevention principle’, by
virtue of which an Employer cannot take advantage of the
non-fulfilment of a condition (for example, to complete the
works by a certain date), the performance of which the
Employer has hindered. Where there has been Employer
Delay, this may prevent the Employer charging the
Contractor with LDs for failure to achieve a contract
completion date. Time for completion of the works may
become ‘at large’ until a new contract completion date is set
by the granting of an EOT. The Protocol’s wording avoids
this danger and also prevents arguments as to whether an
Employer Delay that acts concurrently with a Contractor
Delay does actually hinder the progress of the Contractor in
any way.
1.4.13 Finally, the Protocol’s position on concurrency prevents an
Employer or CA taking advantage of a Contractor’s delay
after the contract completion date to issue instructions and
make changes without having to give an EOT. It cannot be

correct that an Employer should be able to charge the
Contractor with LDs at a time when the Contractor is
carrying out extra work ordered by the Employer or CA.
1.5 Mitigation of delay
1.5.1 The Contractor has a general duty to mitigate the effect
on its works of Employer Risk Events. Subject to express
contract wording or agreement to the contrary, the duty
to mitigate does not extend to requiring the Contractor to
add extra resources or to work outside its planned
working hours.
1.5.2 Note that the requirement in the UK Joint Contracts Tribunal
(JCT) contracts for the Contractor to use ‘best endeavours’ to
prevent delay in the progress of the works and prevent
completion of the works being delayed beyond the
completion date may place a higher burden on the Contractor
than the normal duty to mitigate. In the event of Employer
Delay, it is of course open to the Employer to agree to pay
the Contractor for additional mitigation measures. See
Guidance Section 1.13 below for mitigation of loss.
1.6 Financial consequences of delay
1.6.1 Delay will result in additional cost. The question of who
should bear the cost of delay is often contentious. The
Protocol is not primarily concerned with the question of the
valuation of the direct cost (labour, plant and materials) of
change to or variation of the works. It is mainly concerned
with the Contractor’s cost of prolongation and disruption.
The Contractor’s cost of prolongation mostly comprises the
extended use of time-related resources.
1.6.2 Entitlement to an EOT does not automatically lead to
entitlement to compensation (and vice versa).
Guidance
1.6.3 It is a common misconception in the construction industry
that if the Contractor is entitled to an EOT, then it is also
automatically entitled to be compensated for the additional
time that it has taken to complete the contract. Under the
common standard forms of contract, the Contractor is nearly
always required to claim its entitlement to an EOT under one
provision of the contract and its claim to compensation for
that prolongation under another provision. There is thus no
absolute linkage between entitlement to an EOT and the
entitlement to compensation for the additional time spent on
completing the contract.

1.6.4 If the method used to assess the amount of an EOT is
prospective, ie based on the likely Employer Delay to
Completion, and the method used to assess time for
prolongation compensation is retrospective, ie is based on
the loss and/or expense actually incurred, then the two
assessments of time may produce different results. This is
only to be expected, and does not necessarily indicate errors
in either method. Entitlement to an EOT does not
automatically result in entitlement to compensation for the
same period, or at all.
1.7 Valuation of variations
1.7.1 Where practicable, the total likely effect of variations
should be pre-agreed between the Employer/CA and the
Contractor, to arrive at if possible, a fixed price of a
variation, to include not only the direct costs (labour,
plant and materials) but also the time-related costs, an
agreed extension of time and the necessary revisions to
the programme.
Guidance
1.7.2 Every competently drafted construction contract contains a
mechanism entitling the Employer to vary the works by
addition or deletion, with a mechanism for determining the
price of the variation. The standard forms sometimes, but
not always, contain wording enabling the parties to agree in
advance of the execution of the variation, what its fixed price
will be. This practice is supported by the Protocol.
1.7.3 Users of design and construct forms of contract are reminded
that it is essential to have a list of rates and prices to be used
in the event of change in the Employer’s requirements.
1.7.4 Typically, variation clauses provide that where the varied
work is of a similar character and executed under similar
conditions to the original work, the tendered contract rates
should be used. Where the work is either not of a similar
character or not executed under similar conditions, the
tendered contract rates can be used, but adjusted to take
account of the different circumstances. If the work is quite
dissimilar, reasonable or fair rates and prices are to be
determined. Fair or reasonable rates will generally be
reasonable direct costs plus a reasonable allowance for
overheads and profit.
1.7.5 Under the JCT standard forms of building contract, any loss
and/or expense caused by an adverse effect on the progress
of the works as a result of acts or omissions of the Employer

is to be ascertained separately from the direct cost and
associated preliminaries/overheads of an instructed variation.
1.7.6 Under the UK Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) standard
forms of civil engineering contract and some other standard
forms, prolongation compensation arising from variations is
to be valued if possible as part of the variation at or on the
basis of the rates and prices in the bill of quantities or
schedule of rates, or on the basis of a fair valuation.
1.7.7 It is not good practice to leave to be compensated separately
at the end of the contract the prolongation and disruption
element of a number of different variations and/or changes.
This is likely to result in the Contractor presenting a global
claim, which is a practice that is to be discouraged. Where it
is not practicable to agree in advance the amounts for
prolongation and disruption to be included in variations and
sums for changed circumstances, then it is recommended that
the parties to the contract do their best to agree the total
amount payable as the consequence of the variations and/or
changes separately as soon as possible after the variations are
completed.
1.7.8 Though some standard forms of contract have a provision
that where a variation affects unvaried work, the affected
unvaried work may be treated as varied, these provisions are
rarely used. The use of these provisions is encouraged, in
order to promote early agreement on the complete effect of
the variation.
1.8 Compensation for prolongation
1.8.1 Delay causes prolongation. Prolongation causes increased
cost. The recoverability of compensation for prolongation
depends on the terms of the contract and the cause of the
prolongation. Obviously, any prolongation costs resulting
from Contractor Risk Events must be borne by the
Contractor. Compensation for prolongation resulting from
Employer Risk Events will primarily comprise the
Contractor’s extended use of time-related resources, notably
its site overheads. It is, however, not possible to say that
compensation for prolongation comprises exclusively
additional time-related resources because other types of
recoverable loss may result from Employer Risk Events.
1.8.2 Unless expressly provided for otherwise in the contract
(eg by evaluation based on contract rates – see Section
1.8.5 below), compensation for prolongation should not
be paid for anything other than work actually done, time
actually taken up or loss and/or expense actually

suffered. In other words, the compensation for
prolongation caused other than by variations is based on
the actual additional cost incurred by the Contractor.
Guidance
1.8.3 The recovery of prolongation compensation depends on the
terms of the contract and the cause of the prolongation.
Prolongation costs may be caused by any kind of Employer
Risk Event – a variation, a breach of contract, or other
identified provision in the contract – for example, unforeseen
ground conditions.
1.8.4 Whether the cause of the prolongation is governed by a
provision in the contract or a breach of contract, it is up to
the Contractor to demonstrate that it has actually suffered
loss and/or expense before it becomes entitled to
compensation, unless the contract provides otherwise.
1.8.5 Arguments about proof of loss could be reduced or avoided
altogether if the contract contained an agreed amount per day
that can be applied to each day of prolongation. This is the
reverse of the normal Employer’s liquidated damages
provision. It may be necessary to have a number of different
agreed amounts to be applied depending on the stage in the
project where the delay occurs. One method of fixing the
figure(s) would be for the Contractor to price a schedule of
rates with indicative quantities at tender stage.
1.8.6 If the prolongation is caused by a variation, then it is
recommended that the compensation for prolongation should
be agreed as soon as possible after completion of the
variation and where practicable included in the valuation of
the variation (see Guidance Section 1.7.7).
1.9 Relevance of tender allowances for prolongation and
disruption compensation
1.9.1 The tender allowances have limited relevance to the
evaluation of the cost of prolongation and disruption
caused by breach of contract or any other cause that
requires the evaluation of additional costs. The tender
allowances may be relevant as a base line for the
evaluation of prolongation and disruption caused by
variations.
Guidance
1.9.2 For prolongation or disruption compensation based on actual
cost or loss and/or expense, the tender allowances are not

relevant because the Contractor is entitled to its actual costs
of the prolongation or disruption.
1.9.3 It is a common misunderstanding in the construction industry
that if the Contractor has made no or inadequate allowance
for site overheads in its tender, then that fact limits or
removes its entitlement to compensation for prolongation
and/or disruption where the basis of recovery is actual cost
incurred. This is not correct. Under these circumstances
recoverable compensation requires the ascertainment of the
actual cost of remaining on site for the additional time. The
tender allowances are therefore of little relevance to the
ascertainment of compensation under these circumstances.
1.9.4 The tender allowances may be a useful reference point for
the evaluation of prolongation and disruption caused by a
variation, but only in those circumstances where the different
conditions or circumstances under which the variations are
carried out make it inappropriate to apply the contract rates
or prices. Notwithstanding the advice of the Protocol, there
is nothing to prevent the use of the tender allowances as a
rough guide for the agreement of prolongation costs or for
checking the recovery of prolongation costs through the
value of varied work, if that is what the parties for
convenience wish to do.
1.10 Concurrency as it relates to compensation for
prolongation
1.10.1 If the Contractor incurs additional costs that are caused
both by Employer Delay and Contractor Delay, then the
Contractor should only recover compensation if it is able
to separate the additional costs caused by the Employer
Delay from those caused by the Contractor Delay.
Guidance
1.10.2 As it is in relation to EOT, concurrency is one of the most
contentious issues in the determination of recoverable
prolongation compensation. Contention arises when the
Employer would be liable to compensate the Contractor for
being kept on site longer than expected, but the Contractor
was late in carrying out work of its own, and so would have
been late completing the work anyway. Should the
Employer be obliged to compensate the Contractor in these
circumstances?
1.10.3 Answering this question does not always prove difficult in
practice. The prolongation compensation will be recoverable
if the Contractor can prove that its losses result from the

Employer Delay. Proper analysis of the facts may reveal the
true cause without argument.
1.10.4 Where an Employer Risk Event and a Contractor Risk Event
have concurrent effect, the Contractor may not recover
compensation in respect of the Employer Risk Event unless
it can separate the loss and/or expense that flows from the
Employer Risk Event from that which flows from the
Contractor Risk Event. If it would have incurred the
additional costs in any event as a result of Contractor
Delays, the Contractor will not be entitled to recover
those additional costs. In most cases this will mean that the
Contractor will be entitled to compensation only for any
period by which the Employer Delay exceeds the duration of
the Contractor Delay.
1.10.5 The loss and/or expense flowing from an Employer Delay
cannot usually be distinguished from that flowing from
Contractor Delay without the following:
1.10.5.1 an as-planned programme showing how the
Contractor reasonably intended to carry out the
work and the as-planned critical path;
1.10.5.2 an as-built programme demonstrating the work and
sequence actually carried out and the as-built
critical path;
1.10.5.3 the identification of activities and periods of time
that were not part of the original scope;
1.10.5.4 the identification of those activities and periods of
time that were not part of the original scope and
that are also at the Contractor’s risk as to cost; and
1.10.5.5 the identification of costs attributable to the two
preceding sub-sections.
1.10.6 This analysis should be co-ordinated with any analysis
carried out by the Contractor to establish its rights to an
EOT, while remembering that the entitlement to an EOT and
the entitlement to compensation may not be co-extensive.
1.10.7 Illustrations showing the application of the Protocol to
situations where there is float, concurrent delay, and
concurrent effects of sequential delays and the effects of
Contractor recovery plans are attached as Appendix D
1.11 Time for assessment of prolongation costs
.
1.11.1 Liability for compensation must first be established by
showing that the prolongation has been caused by an
Employer Risk Event. Once it is established that
compensation for prolongation is due, the evaluation of
the sum due is made by reference to the period when the

effect of the Employer Risk Event was felt, not by
reference to the extended period at the end of the
contract.
Guidance
1.11.2 Arguments commonly arise as to the time when recoverable
prolongation compensation is to be assessed: is it to be
assessed by reference to the period when the Employer
Delay occurred (when the daily or weekly amount of
expenditure and therefore compensation may be high) or by
reference to the extended period at the end of the contract
(when the amount of compensation may be much lower)?
1.11.3 The answer to this question is that the period to be evaluated
is that in which the effect of the Employer Risk Event was
felt.
1.11.4 If amounts of compensation per day for prolongation were
pre-agreed, then the point in time when the compensable
prolongation occurred would need to be consistent with what
has been agreed.
1.12 Float as it relates to compensation
1.12.1 If as a result of an Employer Delay, the Contractor is
prevented from completing the works by the
Contractor’s planned completion date (being a date
earlier than the contract completion date), the
Contractor should in principle be entitled to be paid the
costs directly caused by the Employer Delay,
notwithstanding that there is no delay to the contract
completion date (and therefore no entitlement to an
EOT), provided also that at the time they enter into the
contract, the Employer is aware of the Contractor’s
intention to complete the works prior to the contract
completion date, and that intention is realistic and
achievable.
Guidance
1.12.2 It is important to understand the significance of the statement
above, and to contrast it with the position taken in the
Protocol on the effect of total float on EOT (see Guidance
Section 1.3). In relation to EOT, the Protocol takes the
position that an Employer Delay should not result in an EOT
unless it is predicted to reduce to below zero the total float
on the activity paths affected by the Employer Delay. When
it comes to compensation, the Protocol considers that, unless
there is agreement to the contrary, the Contractor should be

entitled to compensation for the delay, even if the delay does
not result in an EOT. As with the effect of float on
entitlement to EOT, the Protocol recommends that
contracting parties expressly address this issue in their
contract. They should ask themselves the question: if the
Contractor is prevented by the Employer from completing on
a date earlier than the contract completion date, should it
have a remedy? If so, in precisely what circumstances? If
not, then the contract should say so expressly.
1.12.3 Where the parties have not addressed this issue in their
contract, for the Contractor to have a valid claim, the
Employer must be aware at the time the contract is entered
into of the Contractor’s intention to complete prior to the
contract completion date. It is not permissible for the
Contractor, after the contract has been entered into, to state
that it intends to complete early, and claim additional costs
for being prevented from doing so.
1.12.4 The Protocol recognises that the position it takes on this
issue might be thought to conflict with the decision of HH
Judge Fox-Andrews in the (English) Technology and
Construction Court in Glenlion Construction Ltd v The
Guinness Trust (1987) 39 BLR 89, where it was held that
there was no implied term of the building contract in
question that the Employer in that case should so perform the
contract as to enable the Contractor to complete the works in
accordance with a programme that showed the works being
completed before the contract completion date. Providing
the Employer is aware of the Contractor’s intention prior to
the contract being entered into, there should be no such
conflict. The Protocol considers that, as a matter of policy,
contractors ought not to be discouraged from planning to
achieve early completion, because of the price advantage that
being able to complete early is likely to have for the
Employer. But the potential for conflict reinforces why the
issue should be addressed directly in every contract.
1.12.5 The recoverable compensation in the situation described in
1.12.1 will normally only comprise the increased costs of the
time-related resources directly affected by the Employer
Delay to Progress. Recovery of such compensation will also
be subject to considerations of concurrency, as described in
Guidance Section 1.10.
1.13 Mitigation of loss
1.13.1 The Contractor should do all it reasonably can to avoid
the financial consequences of Employer Delay.

Guidance
1.13.2 The Contractor’s duty to mitigate its loss has two aspects:
first, the Contractor must take reasonable steps to minimise
its loss; and secondly, the Contractor must not take
unreasonable steps that increase its loss.
1.13.3 Most construction contracts include a requirement to the
effect that the Contractor must do all it can to avoid,
overcome or reduce delay. Some forms actually make
compliance with such provisions a condition precedent to the
recovery of compensation or relief from LDs.
1.13.4 The limitations on the Contractor’s obligations to mitigate
Employer Delay are set out in Guidance Section 1.5. The
Contractor does not have a duty to carry out any change in
scope any more efficiently than the original scope. Neither
is the Contractor obliged to expend money in order to
mitigate the effect of an Employer Risk Event. If the
Employer wishes the Contractor to take measures to mitigate
the Employer Delay (whether by adding extra resources, by
working outside its planned working hours or otherwise), the
Employer should agree to pay the Contractor for the costs of
those mitigation efforts.
1.13.5 It is the obligation of the Contractor to proceed with the
works so as to complete on or before the completion date.
However, the method, speed and timing of the activities
forming the contract scope are generally left to the
Contractor’s discretion, subject to any stipulated prior
process of acceptance of method and/or programme.
1.13.6 In the event that changes are made to the scope of the works,
the Contractor has a similar obligation as to efficiency in
relation to the changed scope as it has to the original scope.
1.14 Global claims
1.14.1 The not uncommon practice of contractors making
composite or global claims without substantiating cause
and effect is discouraged by the Protocol and rarely
accepted by the courts.
Guidance
1.14.2 If the Contractor has made and maintained accurate and
complete records, the Contractor should be able to establish
the causal link between the Employer Risk Event and the
resultant loss and/or expense suffered, without the need to
make a global claim. The failure to maintain such records

does not justify the Contractor in making a global claim.
The Protocol’s guidance as to the keeping of records is set
out in Guidance Section 2.
1.14.3 In what should only be rare cases where the financial
consequences of the various causes of compensation are
impossible to distinguish, so that an accurate apportionment
of the compensation claimed cannot be made between the
several causative events, then in this rare situation it is
acceptable to quantify individually those items of the claim
which can be dealt with in isolation and claim compensation
for the remainder as a composite whole.
1.14.4 The Contractor will nevertheless need to set out the details of
the Employer Risk Events relied on and the compensation
claimed with sufficient particularity so that the Employer
knows the case that is being made against it.
1.15 Claims for payment of interest
1.15.1 Some standard forms of contract make provision for the way
interest, as a component of compensation, is payable.
Interest may also be a component of damages if it can be
shown that the loss (in the form of additional interest paid)
was actually suffered as a result of a breach of the contract,
and the loss was in the contemplation of the parties at the
time of contracting. There are also statutory rights to
interest.
Guidance
1.15.2 The following are legitimate bases for claims for interest
under contracts subject to English law, subject to express
contractual provisions to the contrary where relevant, and
proof where necessary.
Interest pursuant to contract
1.15.3 The parties can agree in the contract the rate of interest and
the circumstances in which it will be payable. The rate may
not be enforceable if it is penal in not being a ‘genuine pre-
estimate of loss’. Various standard forms of contracts
contain an express contractual right to interest.
Interest as damages/finance charges
1.15.4 It is the position in most areas of business that interest
payable on bank borrowings (to replace the money due) or
the lost opportunity to earn interest on bank deposits, is
quantifiable as damages where the claimant can show:

1.15.4.1 that such loss has actually been suffered; and
1.15.4.2 that this loss was within the reasonable
contemplation of the parties at the time of
contracting.
1.15.5 It is recognised that, in the construction industry, it will
always be in the contemplation of the parties at the time they
enter into their contract that if deprived of money the
Contractor will pay interest or lose the ability to earn
interest. Contractors therefore need only establish that the
loss was actually suffered.
Time when interest starts to run
1.15.6 There are often arguments as to the date on which interest on
a Contractor’s claim should start to run. Contractors will
argue that it should be the date on which they incurred
expenditure for which they are entitled to compensation.
Employers will say that interest should run only from the
date that the Contractor has provided all information needed
to satisfy them that the expenditure has been incurred.
1.15.7 The appropriate starting date will not be the same in all
circumstances, but generally the starting date for the
payment of interest should be the earliest date on which the
principal sum could have become payable, which will be the
date for payment of the certificate issued immediately after
the date the Contractor applied for payment of the loss and/or
expense. This will be subject to any notice requirements in
the contract. In contracts where there are no certificates, the
Protocol recommends that interest should start to run 30 days
after the date the Contractor suffered the loss and/or expense.
Statutory interest on debts
1.15.8 In considering claims for prolongation costs (and any other
monetary claims) the parties should be aware of the various
statutory rights to interest that may be available to an
adjudicator, judge or arbitrator should they not resolve their
dispute. These statutory rights include the Late Payment of
Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 35A of the
Supreme Court Act 1981, section 49 of the Arbitration Act
1996 and the Judgment Act 1838.

1.16 Head office overheads
Guidance
1.16.1 This section applies to claims for compensation other than
the valuation of variations on the basis of rates and prices in
the bill of quantities or schedule of rates.
1.16.2 Head office overheads can be sub-divided into: ‘dedicated
overheads’ which through careful record keeping can be
attributed to the specific Employer Delay; and ‘unabsorbed
overheads’ (such as rent and some salaries) which are
incurred by a Contractor regardless of its volume of work.
1.16.3 Unless the terms of the contract render unabsorbed
overheads irrecoverable, they are generally recoverable as a
foreseeable cost resulting from prolongation. The Contractor
must be able to demonstrate that because of the Employer
Risk Events it was prevented from taking on other overhead-
earning work.
1.16.4 Before it can recover unabsorbed overheads, the Contractor
must be able to demonstrate that it has:
1.16.4.1 failed to recover the overheads it could reasonably
have expected during the period of prolongation;
and
1.16.4.2 been unable to recover such overheads because its
resources had been tied up by Employer Risk
Events.
1.16.5 The Contractor should make all reasonable efforts to
demonstrate through records the head office overheads that it
has failed to recover. If it is not otherwise feasible to
quantify the unabsorbed overheads, formulae may be used
(with caution) to quantify unabsorbed overheads once it has
been successfully demonstrated that overheads have
remained unabsorbed as a result of an Employer Risk Event.
The burden of proving that is has unabsorbed overheads
always rests with the Contractor. A formula just serves as a
tool for the quantification of the loss.
1.16.6 The three most commonly used formulae for assessing
unabsorbed head office overheads are Hudson, Emden and
Eichleay. They are set out in Appendix A.
1.16.7 The use of the Hudson’s formula is not supported. This is
because it is dependent on the adequacy or otherwise of the
tender in question, and because the calculation is derived
from a number which in itself contains an element of head
office overheads and profit, so there is double counting.

1.16.8 In the limited circumstances where a head office overhead
formula is to be used, the Protocol prefers the use of the
Emden and Eichleay formulae. However, in relation to the
Eichleay formula, if a significant proportion (more than, say,
10%) of the final contract valuation is made up of the value
of variations, then it will be necessary to make an adjustment
to the input into the formula, to take account of the fact that
the variations themselves are likely to contain a contribution
to head office overheads and profit.
1.16.9 The CA or, in the event of a dispute, the person deciding the
dispute, should not be absolutely bound by the results of a
formula calculation. It is possible that the use of a particular
formula will produce an anomalous result because of a
particular input into it. It is suggested that the result of the
use of one formula be cross-checked using another formula.
A spreadsheet to do this is available on this website:
http://www.eotprotocol.com./. Or, if you are reading this on-
line, click here for a direct web link.
1.16.10 The tender allowance for head office overheads may be used,
if that is what the parties for convenience wish to do.
1.17 Profit
Guidance
1.17.1 Profit on other contracts, which the claimant maintains it was
prevented from earning because of an Employer Risk Event,
is generally not recoverable under the standard forms. If the
contract allows the recovery of a profit element in addition to
any other compensation, the amount of profit allowed should
reflect the fact that there is no risk involved in the earning of
that profit. An appropriate rate may be arrived at from the
Contractor’s audited accounts for the three previous financial
years closest to the Employer Risk Events for which audited
accounts have been published.
1.17.2 The tender allowance for profit may be used, if that is what
the parties for convenience wish to do.
1.18 Acceleration
1.18.1 Some forms of contract provide for acceleration by
instruction or by collateral agreement. In other forms,
acceleration may be instructed by reference to hours of
working and sequence. The Contractor cannot be instructed

to accelerate to reduce Employer Delay, unless the contract
allows for this.
Guidance
1.18.2 Where the contract provides for acceleration, payment for
the acceleration should be based on the terms of the contract.
1.18.3 Where the contract does not provide for acceleration but the
Contractor and the Employer agree that accelerative
measures should be undertaken, the basis of payment should
be agreed before the acceleration is commenced.
1.18.4 Where acceleration is instructed and/or agreed, the
Contractor is not entitled to claim prolongation
compensation for the period of Employer Delay avoided by
the acceleration measures.
1.18.5 Where a Contractor accelerates of its own accord, it is not
entitled to compensation. If it accelerates as a result of not
receiving an EOT that it considers is due to it, it is not
recommended that a claim for so-called constructive
acceleration be made. Instead, prior to any acceleration
measures, steps should be taken by either party to have the
dispute or difference about entitlement to EOT resolved in
accordance with the dispute resolution procedures applicable
to the contract.
1.19 Disruption
1.19.1 Disruption (as distinct from delay) is disturbance,
hindrance or interruption to a Contractor’s normal
working methods, resulting in lower efficiency. If caused
by the Employer, it may give rise to a right to
compensation either under the contract or as a breach of
contract.
Guidance
1.19.2 Disruption is often treated by the construction industry as if
it were the same thing as delay. It is commonly spoken of
together with delay, as in ‘delay and disruption’. Delay and
disruption are two separate things. They have their normal
everyday meanings. Delay is lateness (eg delayed
completion equals late completion). Disruption is loss of
productivity, disturbance, hindrance or interruption to
progress. In the construction context, disrupted work is work
that is carried out less efficiently than it would have been,
had it not been for the cause of the disruption.

1.19.3 Disruption to construction work may lead to late completion
of the work, but not necessarily so. It is possible for work to
be disrupted and for the contract still to finish by the contract
completion date. In this situation, the Contractor will not
have a claim for an EOT, but it may have a claim for the cost
of the reduced efficiency of its workforce.
1.19.4 Not all disruption is subject to the payment of compensation.
The Contractor will be able to recover disruption
compensation only to the extent that the Employer causes the
disruption. Most standard forms of contract do not deal
expressly with disruption. If they do not, then disruption
may be claimed as being a breach of the term generally
implied into construction contracts, namely that the
Employer will not prevent or hinder the Contractor in the
execution of its work.
1.19.5 Disruption has to be established in the normal cause and
effect manner. Disruption is not just the difference between
what actually happened and what the Contractor planned to
happen. The objective of the compensation for disruption is
to put the Contractor in the same financial position it would
have been in if the disruption had not occurred.
1.19.6 The most common causes of disruption are loss of job
rhythm (caused by, for example, premature moves between
activities, out of sequence working and repeated learning
cycles), work area congestion caused by stacking of trades,
increase in size of gangs and increase in length or number of
shifts. But these are also symptoms of poor site
management.
1.19.7 The starting point for any disruption analysis is to understand
what work was carried out, when it was carried out and what
resources were used. For this reason, record keeping is just
as important for disruption analysis as it is for delay analysis.
The most appropriate way to establish disruption is to apply
a technique known as ‘the Measured Mile’. This compares
the productivity achieved on an un-impacted part of the
contract with that achieved on the impacted part. Such a
comparison factors out issues concerning unrealistic
programmes and inefficient working. The comparison can
be made on the man-hours expended or the units of work
performed. However care must be exercised to compare like
with like. For example, it would not be correct to compare
work carried out in the learning curve part of an operation
with work executed after that period.
1.19.8 It may be difficult to find un-impacted parts on some
contracts. Comparison of productivity on other contracts

executed by the Contractor may be an acceptable alternative,
provided that sufficient records from the other contracts are
available to ensure that the comparison is on a like for like
basis. Failing that, it might be acceptable to use model
productivity curves and factors developed by a number of
organisations from data collected on a range of projects (eg
by the US Army Corps of Engineers, International Labour
Organisation, Mechanical Contractors’ Association of
America Inc, Chartered Institute of Building etc). These
curves provide general guidance and they should be used
only if they are relevant to the working conditions and type
of construction and are supported by evidence from the party
seeking to prove disruption.
1.19.9 When establishing the compensation for disruption it is
necessary to isolate issues that can affect productivity but are
unrelated to the Employer’s liability. These issues can
include weather, plant breakdowns, dilution of supervision,
contractor management and acceleration. The Contractor has
an obligation to manage its own change efficiently and any
failure to do this should not be compensated.
1.19.10 The use of unsupported percentage additions to assess
disruption is not advocated. However, on very simple
contracts where evidence of disruption can be demonstrated,
this practice may be acceptable, provided that the percentage
addition is small (for guidance, no more than 5% on labour
and plant).
1.19.11 It is essential for the Contractor to maintain and make
available to the CA good site records in order that the CA
may carry out proper assessments of disruption. The
Contractor should also be required to give prompt notice of
disruption, in order that the CA can promptly investigate the
claim.
1.19.12 It is recommended that the compensation for disruption
caused by variations should be agreed as soon as possible
after completion of the variation and where practicable
included with the valuation of the variation (see Guidance
Section 1.7.7).
1.19.13 It is recommended that the compensation for disruption
caused by other events that are the liability of the Employer
be compensated by the actual reasonable costs incurred, plus
a reasonable allowance for profit if allowed by the contract.

1.20 Claim preparation costs: are they recoverable?
1.20.1 Most construction contracts provide that the Contractor may
only recover the cost, loss and/or expense it has actually
incurred and that this be demonstrated or proved by
documentary evidence. The Contractor should not be
entitled to additional costs for the preparation of that
information, unless it can show that it has been put to
additional cost as a result of the unreasonable actions or
inactions of the CA in dealing with the Contractor’s claim.
Similarly, unreasonable actions or inactions by the
Contractor in prosecuting its claim should entitle the
Employer to recover its costs. The Protocol may be used as
a guide as to what is reasonable or unreasonable.

Guidance Section 2
2. Guidelines on preparing and maintaining
programmes and records
Introduction
2.1 It is not intended that these Guidance Notes should be incorporated
into a contract, but contract drafters may wish to consider this
guidance when drafting their contracts. Many EOT disputes would
be avoided if the parties properly monitored and recorded progress of
the works during the course of construction. Those who have to
advise on disputes about late completion often find that there is
uncertainty and a lack of records as to when events occurred and who
caused what delay. Good record keeping and good use of a
programme removes some of the uncertainty surrounding these
issues. Records kept in a suitable format should reduce the cost of
analysing delays considerably.
The programme
2.2 As early as possible in the project, the Contractor should submit and
the CA should accept a programme (using commercially available
critical path method project planning software) showing the manner
and sequence in which the Contractor plans to carry out the works.
In principle, the procedure should be no different for small, medium
or large projects (the smaller the project, the less this will involve).
The Protocol does recognise that its recommendations may be
thought to be onerous for smaller projects, but one of the Protocol’s
aims is to bring about a change in this attitude.
2.2.1 Most standard forms of contract contain inadequate
requirements for generating an Accepted Programme and/or
keeping it up to date. The Protocol recommends that the
parties reach a clear agreement on the programme. The
agreement should cover:
2.2.1.1 The form the programme should take. This will
depend on the type and complexity of the project,
but in all but the simplest of projects, it should be
prepared as a critical path network using
commercially available critical path method
project planning software. Both the Contractor and
the CA should have a copy of the software package
used to prepare the project programme. For the
programme to be suitable for use as a tool for the
analysis and management of change, it must be

properly prepared so that, when a change occurs, it
can accurately predict the effects of that change.
The programme should be provided in electronic
form to the CA. Using the software, the
Contractor should identify on the programme
where the critical path(s) lie(s). The programme
should clearly identify all relevant activities,
including those that relate to design,
manufacturing, procurement and on-site
construction. It should also record the information
the Contractor reasonably requires from the
Employer or CA, and what that information is,
when it is required and all Employer or CA
activities and constraints (such as approvals and
Employer-supplied services or materials). The
way the programme should record when
information is required from the Employer or the
CA is by logically linking the information to the
activities of the Contractor that are dependent on
the information (and not by means of fixed dates).
More detailed suggestions as to how the
programme should be prepared are provided below
and in Appendix B.
2.2.1.2 Interaction with method statement. For it to be
fully understood, the programme should be read in
conjunction with a method statement describing in
detail how the Contractor intends to construct the
works, and the resources (which may be those of
its sub-contractors) it intends to use to do so. The
Protocol strongly recommends that the contract
should also require the Contractor to provide such
a method statement, and the programme and the
method statement should be fully cross-referenced.
2.2.1.3 The time within which the Contractor should
submit a draft programme for acceptance. This
should be a reasonable time (which will depend on
the complexity of the project) after the
commencement of the contract, to allow the
Contractor sufficient time to plan the contract
works properly. Ideally, the draft programme
should be submitted and accepted before the works
are started. A tender programme is unlikely to be
sufficiently developed immediately to become the
Accepted Programme, though it should form the
basis of the draft programme. An initial
programme showing only the first three months of
work in detail may be submitted before the
Accepted Programme – see Appendix B. The draft

programme should not attempt to encompass any
changes or delays that have occurred since the
contract commencement date. Any such post-
commencement changes or delays should be dealt
with in accordance with the EOT procedure in
Guidance Section 1.2 after the programme has
been accepted.
2.2.1.4 A mechanism for obtaining the acceptance of the
CA of the draft programme. The Contractor (not
the CA) controls the method and sequence of
construction (and bases its tender price on its
ability to do so). Therefore, providing the
Contractor complies with the contract, the
Contractor may construct the works in the manner
it thinks appropriate. The contract provisions for
accepting the draft programme should reflect that
fact. It might also contain wording to the effect
that if the CA does not respond to the Contractor
regarding the programme within a specified time, it
should be deemed accepted. Once it is accepted,
the draft programme becomes the Accepted
Programme. Acceptance by the CA merely
constitutes an acknowledgement by the CA that the
Accepted Programme represents a contractually
compliant, realistic and achievable depiction of the
Contractor’s intended sequence and timing of
construction of the works. Acceptance does not
turn the Contractor’s programme into a contract
document, or mandate that the works should be
constructed exactly as set out in the Accepted
Programme (if the programme is made a contract
document, the Contractor may become entitled to a
variation whenever it proves impossible to
construct the Works in accordance with the
programme). Nor does it amount to a warranty by
the CA to the Employer that the programme will
be achieved. The Protocol regards the agreement
of the Accepted Programme as being very
important. Disagreements over what constitutes
the Accepted Programme should be resolved
straight away and not be allowed to continue
through the project. Consideration should also be
given to providing the Contractor with a financial
incentive to submit a draft programme and have it
accepted: the Protocol recommends that a sum be
allowed by the Employer in the contract price
payable on the provision by the Contractor of a
proper programme, and further payments for
properly updating the programme.

Correspondingly, a contract term might allow for
withholding of part of any payment due to the
Contractor, or liquidated damages (properly pre-
estimated so as not amount to a penalty) to be
deducted for failure to provide and update the
programme.
2.2.1.5 Requirements for updating and saving of the
Accepted Programme. The contract should
require that the Accepted Programme be updated
with actual progress using the agreed project
planning software and saved electronically at
intervals of no longer than one month (more
frequently on complex projects). Using the agreed
project planning software, the Contractor should
enter the actual progress on the Accepted
Programme as it proceeds with the works, to create
the Updated Programme. Actual progress should
be recorded by means of actual start and actual
finish dates for activities, together with percentage
completion of currently incomplete activities
and/or the extent of remaining activity durations.
Any periods of suspension of an activity should be
noted in the Updated Programme. The monthly
updates should be archived as separate electronic
files and the saved monthly versions of the
Updated Programme should be copied
electronically to the CA, along with a report
describing all modifications made to activity
durations or logic of the programme. The purpose
of saving monthly versions of the programme is to
provide good contemporaneous evidence of what
happened on the project, in case of dispute.
2.2.2 The Accepted Programme (which then becomes the Updated
Programme) should be the means by which actual against
planned progress is monitored, and (as will be seen later) can
be used as a tool for determining EOT. If the CA disagrees
with the amount of progress the Contractor considers it has
achieved, it should notify the Contractor, and the CA and
Contractor should then attempt to reach agreement. If they
do not agree, the CA’s view should prevail unless and until
overturned under the contract dispute resolution procedures,
and the CA’s view on progress should be reflected in the
Updated Programme.
2.2.3 The Contractor may wish to change or develop the Accepted
or Updated Programme, either to expand the detail of
activities that it had not fully planned at the time of
acceptance of the programme or (where necessary) to change

the logic or sequence of activities. Once the Accepted
Programme has been updated with any progress to form the
Updated Programme, the Updated Programme should be the
programme which is revised. Whenever it does so, the
Contractor should notify the CA and provide an electronic
copy of the draft revised programme, together with any
revision to the method statement and an explanation for the
changes made. The Contractor is free to propose these
changes, but the CA should review and if appropriate accept
the draft revised programme as described in Guidance
Section 2.2.1.4. Once a revised programme is accepted by
the CA, it replaces the previously Accepted or Updated
Programme. Some standard forms of contract allow the CA
to request the Contractor to submit a revised programme
where the Contractor is in delay.
2.2.4 Actual construction and the Contractor’s current intentions
should always be reflected in the most recently submitted
copy of the programme. The Protocol recognises that
contractors do sometimes fall into delay that is their own
responsibility, so it is realistic to expect that the programme
may in these circumstances show completion being predicted
to occur later than the contract completion dates. The
Contractor should however plan and reflect in the
programme the steps it intends to take to reduce its delay and
the contract should contain provisions allowing the CA to
require the Contractor to produce such a revised programme.
Acceptance by the CA of such a revised programme does not
constitute acceptance of the Contractor Delay; it merely
acknowledges that the programme reasonably reflects the
current situation.
2.2.5 Compliance with the requirements of the contract in respect
of the programme is very important, both from the point of
view of managing the project when it is under construction
and understanding the causes of delay if the project is
completed late. If the Contractor fails to meet its obligations
with respect to the programme, the CA may consider
invoking the contract provisions for dealing with general
defaults by the Contractor. In this situation, the CA should
also (to the extent possible) maintain and update a copy of
the programme based on its own knowledge.
Guidance
2.2.6 The programme should be prepared using the ‘activity on
node’ (precedence) method rather than the ‘activity on
arrow’ method and should show the operations to be
undertaken in sufficient detail to provide proper forward
visibility (ie so as to enable the effect of changes and delays

on dates and resources to be predicted with as much accuracy
as possible). The most convenient format (particularly for
hard copy) is a linked bar chart (cascade diagram) which
shows the planned duration, start and finish dates of the
activities as well as their interdependencies.
2.2.7 The maximum duration of an activity in the programme may
be specified in the contract, depending on the complexity of
the project. As a guide, no activity or lag (other than a
summary activity) should exceed 28 days in duration.
Wherever possible, an activity should encompass not more
than one trade or operation.
2.2.8 Activities should be linked together by the appropriate logic
links such as finish to start, start to start and finish to finish.
Lags may be introduced for non-work periods (such as
curing of concrete) but better visibility and understanding is
provided if such matters are shown as activities in
themselves. Activities to be executed by the use of overtime
and/or additional shifts should be identified and explained.
All logic links should be inserted. There should be no
negative lags or open ends/hanging activities that would
produce false criticality. Excessive leads and lags should be
avoided. If requested by the CA, the Contractor should
provide an explanation as to why particular leads and lags
have been applied. Manually applied constraints such as
‘must start‘ or ‘must finish’ fixed dates, ‘zero float’ and
other programming techniques that can have the effect of
inhibiting the programme from reacting dynamically to
change should be avoided.
2.2.9 Key resources such as labour (including that which relates to
design where relevant), tradesmen, major plant items,
dedicated resources, major materials and work rates should
be indicated for each activity.
2.2.10 An example of a programme clause for inclusion in
construction contracts (subject to careful checking by the
drafter as to its integration into and compatibility with the
remainder of the documents comprising the contract) is given
in Appendix B.
2.3 Software
2.3.1 It is essential for the parties to agree the software that is to be
used to produce the programme.
2.3.2 Difficulties in dealing with EOT issues both during the
design and construction and final account stages of a
construction project will be significantly increased if the

parties have not agreed in the contract the type of software to
be used to produce the contract programme. Commercially
available software should be used or specified in the tender
documents; specialist in-house software should be avoided.
2.4 Records
2.4.1 It is often complained that there is a lack of good record
keeping and a lack of uniformity of approach to record
keeping in the construction industry. The Protocol
recommends that the parties reach a clear agreement on the
records to be kept. The starting point for any delay analysis
is to understand what work was carried out and when it was
carried out.
2.4.2 Examples of draft clauses which can be incorporated into
construction contracts depending on their size and
complexity (subject to careful checking by the drafter as to
its integration into and compatibility with the remainder of
the documents comprising the contract) are attached as
Appendix C.

Guidance Section 3
3. Guidelines on dealing with extensions of time during
the course of the project
Introduction
3.1 This part of the Protocol sets out a recommended procedure to be
followed in order to deal efficiently and accurately with extension of
time applications. It requires that the parties to the contract will have
followed the recommended good practice on programmes and records
set out in Guidance Section 2 above. It is not intended that these
Guidance Notes should be incorporated into a contract.
3.2 Extension of time procedure
3.2.1 All the requirements of the conditions of contract relating to
the application for and the granting of extensions of time
should be followed strictly.
3.2.2 As well as the particulars that may be required under the
form of contract, the Contractor should generally submit a
sub-network to be inserted into the Updated Programme, as
close as possible to the date of what the Contractor alleges to
be the Employer Risk Event, showing the actual or
anticipated effect of the Employer Risk Event and its linkage
into the Updated Programme. Further guidance on the form
of the sub-network is given in Guidance Section 3.2.9. It
should also be accompanied by such documents and records
as are necessary to demonstrate the entitlement in principle
to an EOT. Simply stating that Employer Risk Events have
occurred and claiming the whole of any delay apparent at the
time of the events is not a proper demonstration of
entitlement.
3.2.3 Before doing anything else, the CA should consider whether
or not the claimed event or cause of delay is in fact one in
respect of which the Employer has assumed risk and
responsibility (ie that it is an Employer Risk Event). The
Contractor will potentially be entitled to an EOT only for
those events or causes listed in the contract as being at the
Employer’s risk as to time. These events vary between the
different standard forms of contract, and care is needed when
reading them. If the CA concludes that the event or cause of
delay is not an Employer Risk Event, the CA should so
notify the Contractor. Without prejudice to that, the CA may

wish to comment on other aspects of the Contractor’s
submission. When granting or refusing an EOT, the CA
should provide sufficient information to allow the Contractor
to understand the reasons for the CA’s decision.
3.2.4 In the absence of a submission that complies with this
section, the CA (unless the contract otherwise provides)
should make its own determination of the EOT (if any) that
is due, based on such information as is available to it. Given
that it is difficult if not impossible to withdraw an EOT once
granted, it is reasonably to be expected that, where the CA
has not been presented with the necessary information on
which to base its decision, the CA will award only the
minimum EOT that is likely to be justified.
3.2.5 If the Contractor does not agree with the CA’s decision, it
should so inform the CA immediately. Disagreements on
EOT matters should not be left to be resolved at the end of
the project. If no agreement can be reached quickly, steps
should be taken by either party to have the dispute or
difference resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution
procedures applicable to the contract.
3.2.6 The Protocol recommends that the Updated Programme
should be the primary tool used to guide the CA in
determining the amount of the EOT. The EOT should be
granted to the extent that the Employer Risk Event is
predicted to prevent the works being completed by the then
prevailing contract completion date.
Guidance
3.2.7 A guide to the amount of EOT is obtained by using the
Updated Programme. The steps to be taken are as follows:
3.2.7.1 the Programme should be brought fully up to date
(as to progress and the effect of all delays that have
occurred up to that date, whether Employer Delays
or Contractor Delays) to the point immediately
before the occurrence of the Employer Risk Event;
3.2.7.2 the Programme should then be modified to reflect
the Contractor’s realistic and achievable plans to
recover any delays that have occurred, including
any changes in the logic of the Programme
proposed for that purpose (subject to CA review
and acceptance as provided in Guidance Section
2.2.3);
3.2.7.3 the sub-network representing the Employer Risk
Event should then be entered into the programme;
and

3.2.7.4 the impact on the contract completion dates should
be noted.
3.2.8 Prior to determining the effect of an Employer Risk Event on
the programme, any patently unrealistic logic or durations
should be corrected by agreement, failing which the CA’s
view should prevail unless and until overturned under the
contract dispute resolution provisions.
3.2.9 The sub-network referred to above should be prepared by the
Contractor in the same manner and using the same software
as the Accepted Programme. It should comprise the
activities and durations resulting from the Employer Risk
Event. For example, the sub-network for a variation would
comprise the instruction for the variation, the activities
required to carry out that variation and its linkage to the
Updated Programme. For a breach of contract, the sub-
network would represent the consequences of that breach.
The Contractor should submit the sub-network to the CA for
agreement. The CA should agree the sub-network and, once
agreed, the sub-network should be inserted into the
Contractor’s Updated Programme. Any disagreement about
the sub-network should be resolved quickly and (like all
delay issues) not left till after completion of the project.
3.2.10 The assessment of the impact of delays (whether Contractor
Delays or Employer Delays) should be at a level appropriate
to the level of detail included in the Accepted Programme
and taking into account the size and complexity of the works
and the delays being analysed.
3.2.11 The methodology described in this section is known as ‘time
impact analysis’. The Protocol recommends that this
methodology be used wherever the circumstances permit,
both for prospective and (where the necessary information is
available) retrospective delay analysis. The methodology
will not be capable of being used contemporaneously unless
a proper programme has been prepared, accepted and
updated as recommended in Guidance Section 2 above.
3.2.12 As noted in Guidance Section 1.4.7, where Employer Risk
Events and Contractor Risk Events occur sequentially but
have concurrent effects, the time impact analysis method
described in Guidance Section 1.2 should be applied to
determine whether an EOT is due. In this situation any
Contractor Delay should not reduce the amount of EOT due
to the Contractor as a result of the Employer Delay.
Analyses should be carried out for each event separately and
strictly in the sequence in which they arose.

3.2.13 Although the programme should be the primary tool for
guiding the CA in his determination of EOT, it should be
used in conjunction with the contemporary evidence to
ensure that the resulting EOT is fair and reasonable. It will
also be necessary for the parties to apply common sense and
experience to the process to ensure that all relevant factors
are taken into account, and that any anomalous results
generated by the programme analysis are managed properly.

Guidance Section 4
4. Guidelines on dealing with disputed extension of
time issues after completion of the project –
retrospective delay analysis
4.1 If the programme management recommendations in the Protocol and
Guidance were followed during the course of the works (a planned
network programme and method statement prepared, proper records
kept and the programme updated regularly), but the analysis of
delaying events was not carried out contemporaneously, the analysis
of the impact of events can generally be carried out retrospectively.
4.2 However, if the recommendations of the Protocol and Guidance have
not been adopted during the course of the works in regard to the
preparation of records and network programmes, the method used to
analyse and assess delay and prolongation after a project has been
completed will largely be dictated by:
• the relevant conditions of contract;
• the nature of the causative events;
• the value of the dispute;
• the time available;
• the records available; and
• the programme information available;
• the programmer’s skill level and familiarity with the project.
The terms of the contract
4.3 Some forms of contract provide that the Contractor is only entitled to
relief from LDs for Employer Risk Events that actually cause delay
to completion. Collapsed as-built, as-planned v as-built, and time
impact analysis may be suitable for those forms.
4.4 Other forms of Contract provide that the Contractor is entitled to
relief from LDs for the likely effect of an Employer Risk Event.
Under those forms impacted as-planned and time impact analysis
may be appropriate.
The nature of proof required
4.5 As-planned v as-built analysis can be used for identifying delays to
progress but is restricted by its inability to identify concurrency, re-
sequencing, mitigation or acceleration. It is useful as a starting point
in relation to other, more complex methods of analysis.

4.6 Impacted as-planned is based on the effect of Employer Risk Events
on the planned programme of work. This is thought to be the
simplest form of delay analysis using CPM techniques since it
involves the least amount of variables. The usefulness of the
impacted as-planned technique is restricted due to the theoretical
nature of the projected delays that are determined using this
technique and uncertainty as to the feasibility of the Contractor’s as-
planned programme.
4.7 Collapsed as-built is based on the effect of Employer Risk Events on
the programme of work as it was actually built. Similar to the as-
planned v as-built, the use of this technique is restricted by its
inability to identify concurrency, re-sequencing, redistribution of
resources or acceleration. This is particularly the case when the
nature of the as-built logic is complex, requiring subjective
reconstruction of as-built logic. Where acceleration, redistribution of
resources or re-sequencing has taken place during the course of the
works to overcome the effects of Events, this form of analysis may
produce unreliable results.
4.8 Time impact analysis is based on the effect of Delay Events on the
Contractor’s intentions for the future conduct of the work in the light
of progress actually achieved at the time of the Delay Event and can
also be used to assist in resolving more complex delay scenarios
involving concurrent delays, acceleration and disruption. It is also
the best technique for determining the amount of EOT that a
Contractor should have been granted at the time an Employer Risk
Event occurred. In this situation, the amount of EOT may not
precisely reflect the actual delay suffered by the Contractor. That
does not mean that time impact analysis generates hypothetical
results – it generates results showing entitlement. This technique is
the preferred technique to resolve complex disputes related to delay
and compensation for that delay.
The factual material available
4.9 If there is neither a planned network programme nor as-built records
then CPM analysis, if at all possible, can only be based on the ex post
facto creation of the planned programme from the tender
documentation and an impacted as-planned analysis.
4.10 If there is a good as-planned network programme but it has not been
updated with progress and there are no as-built records then an
impacted as-planned analysis may be appropriate.
4.11 Where there are good as-built records but the as-planned programme
was not produced in adequate detail or not produced at all, a
collapsed as-built programme may be appropriate.

4.12 Where an as-planned programme and an as-built programme exist or
the as-planned programme was regularly updated but little
information is available in relation to the network logic followed,
then an as-planned v as-built analysis may be appropriate.
4.13 The table below summarises the types of analysis that can be
conducted depending on the types of factual material available. An
‘X’ indicates the factual material that is required for a particular
analysis, but in some cases there are alternatives, as indicated in the
table:
Type of analysis As-planned
programme
without
network
Networked
as-planned
programme
Updated
as-planned
networked
programme
As-
built
records
As-planned v as-
built
X or X and X or X
Impacted as-
planned
X
Collapsed as-built X
Time impact
analysis
X or X and X
The amount in dispute and the cost of the analysis
4.14 As-planned v as-built and impacted as-planned are generally the
cheapest and simplest methods of analysis.
4.15 Collapsed as-built is also an analysis simple to perform although it is
often more laborious and subjective because of the inherent difficulty
of establishing accurate as-built logic from records.
4.16 Time impact analysis is the most thorough method of analysis,
although it is generally the most time-consuming and costly when
performed forensically.
4.17 In order to avoid or at least minimise disputes over methodology, it is
recommended that the interested parties try to agree an appropriate
method of analysis before the disputing parties begin their
retrospective (ie after the event) delay analyses. Where litigation or
arbitration has been commenced, in the absence of agreement, careful
consideration should be given to obtaining the decision of the judge
or arbitrator as to the appropriateness of the method proposed, before
proceeding with a full delay analysis. Failure to consult the other
party on delay analysis methodology and/or to identify and have
resolved differences in methodology is a matter that the Protocol
considers might be taken into account by the judge or arbitrator in
awarding and allocating recoverable costs of the dispute.

4.18 Flowing from the above, it follows that:
4.18.1 the parties should agree and set out in writing (or agree a
method to decide) the most appropriate method of
determining delay to completion for their particular dispute;
4.18.2 the parties should agree who is to carry out the analysis (they
should consider appointing a joint independent expert
programming consultant).
4.19 The Protocol recommends that, in deciding entitlement to EOT,
the adjudicator, judge or arbitrator should so far as is
practicable put him/herself in the position of the CA at the time
the Employer Risk Event occurred. He/she should use the Updated
Programme to establish the status of the works at that time. He/she
should then determine what (if any) EOT entitlement could or should
have been recognised by the CA at the time. The results may not
match the as-built programme, because the Contractor’s actual
performance may well have been influenced by the effects of
attempted acceleration, re-sequencing, redeployment of resources or
other Employer and Contractor Risk Events, in order to try to avoid
liability for LDs. That does not necessarily mean that an EOT will
not be due. As stated in Guidance Section 1.2.13, it is not good
practice for CAs to ‘wait and see’ what the full effect of an Employer
Delay is, and justify not granting an EOT if the Contractor, by
making efforts beyond that which are required of it under the
Contract, overcomes the Employer Delay. As stated in Guidance
Section 1.2.9, EOT is a matter of entitlement, not need. The Protocol
considers that the process of dealing with disputed EOT issues after
the completion of the project should not replicate and validate that
‘wait and see’ approach, and that is why it considers that, in deciding
EOTs, adjudicators, judges or arbitrators should so far as is
practicable put themselves in the position of the CA at the time the
Employer Risk Event occurred.

Concluding notes
5. Concluding notes and dedication
5.1 The Protocol recognises that improved education and training in
programming techniques will be required by both Contractors’,
Employers’ and CAs’ staff before the recommendations of the
Protocol and its Guidance Sections can achieve widespread
acceptance throughout the construction industry. The fact that this
may be necessary does not lead the Protocol to alter its
recommendations, as such education and training would serve to
improve project management as a whole, and not just the
management of delay. For example, the Protocol believes that better
use could be made by Employers and CAs of project management
tools in preparing and evaluating a master plan for the project as a
whole, of which the Contractor’s programme will form a part, and for
managing the effect of change throughout the construction process.
5.2 The Protocol is dedicated to the memory of John Burbidge, former
managing director of Henry Boot Construction Ltd and member of
the SCL delay group, who sadly died in December 2000. John
disliked disputes but was a tireless thinker about the type of contract
anomalies the Protocol addresses and was convinced of the need to
iron them out for the good of the construction industry.
16th October 2002

Much of the work involved in drafting this Protocol was carried out by the
following individuals:
Drafting sub-committee
Jeremy Winter (chairman)
Richard Bayfield
Paul Brough
Anthony Caletka
Jonathan Douglas
Peter Johnson
Stuart Jordan
Stuart Nash
Keith Pickavance
Jim Pragnell
David Richards
Thanks also to the following for their contributions, comments and support
Paul Bennett Michael Blackburne John Burbidge
John Burgess Gerlando Butera John Crane
Mike Desmond John Dye Tony Elven
Nigel Gamble Brian Gayton Roger Gibson
Andrew Grantham John Hammond Paul Kelly
Keith Kirkwood John McGuiness Christopher Miers
Jacqueline Mimms Anthony Morgan Brendan Murphy
Walter Murphy Octavian Dan Greg Russell
Peter Shaw Michael Stokes Kate Sullivan
John Temprell Douglas Treacher Dennis Wiles
Simon Wrightson Andrew Yendall
Drafts of the Protocol were reviewed and commented on by many individuals
and organisations. Their comments were duly studied by the drafting sub-
committee and, where considered appropriate, have influenced the wording of
the clauses. The drafting sub-committee wishes to record its appreciation of
the time and effort devoted by all those who commented. The ultimate
decision on the form and content of the document rests with drafting sub-
committee.

APPENDIX A
Definitions and glossary
This Appendix provides explanations for words and expressions commonly
used in situations where there has been delay to or disruption of a
construction project. Not all the terms contained in the Appendix are to be
found in the Protocol. In order to make the Protocol as easy to read as
possible, the use of capitalisation for defined terms has been kept to a
minimum.
acceleration
The execution of the planned scope of work in a shorter time than anticipated
or the execution of an increased scope of work within the originally planned
duration.
Accepted Programme
The Protocol recommends that the Contractor be required to submit a draft
programme for the whole of the works to the CA and that this draft
programme be accepted by the CA. Once accepted by the CA, it is known in
the Protocol as the Accepted Programme.
activity
An operation or process consuming time and possibly other resources. An
individual or work team can manage an activity. It is a measurable element of
the total project programme.
activity float
The duration contingency directly related to a single activity built into the
planned duration of that activity. Activity float is established simply by
dictating an activity duration that is greater than the actual time needed to
complete that activity.
activity-on-the-node network
A network in which the nodes symbolise the activities. A precedence
diagram.
as-built programme
The record of the history of the construction project in the form of a
programme. The as-built programme does not necessarily have any logic
links. It can be merely a bar-chart record of the start and end dates of every
activity that actually took place. ‘As constructed programme’ has the same
meaning.
change/variation
Any difference between the circumstances and/or content of the contract
works as carried out, compared with the circumstances and/or content under

which the works are described in the contract documents as required to be or
intended to have been carried out. A change or variation may or may not carry
with it a right to an extension of time and/or additional payment.
collapsed as-built
A method of delay analysis where the effects of events are ‘subtracted’ from
the as-built programme to determine what would have occurred but for those
events.
compensation
The recovery or payment of money for work done or time taken up whether by
way of valuation, loss and/or expense or damages.
compensable event
Expression sometimes used to describe what in the Protocol is an Employer
Risk Event in respect of which the Contractor is entitled to compensation.
completion date
See contract completion date.
concurrency
True concurrent delay is the occurrence of two or more delay events at the
same time, one an Employer Risk Event, the other a Contractor Risk Event
and the effects of which are felt at the same time. The term ‘concurrent delay’
is often used to describe the situation where two or more delay events arise at
different times, but the effects of them are felt (in whole or in part) at the same
time. To avoid confusion, this is more correctly termed the ‘concurrent effect’
of sequential delay events.
concurrent delay
See concurrency.
constructive acceleration
Acceleration following failure by the Employer to recognise that the
Contractor has encountered Employer Delay for which it is entitled to an EOT
and which failure required the Contractor to accelerate its progress in order to
complete the works by the prevailing contract completion date. This situation
may be brought about by the Employer’s denial of a valid request for an EOT
or by the Employer’s late granting of an EOT. Not (currently) a recognised
concept under English law.
Contract Administrator (CA)
The person responsible for administration of the contract, including certifying
what extensions of time are due, or what additional costs or loss and expense
is to be compensated. Depending on the form of contract the person may be
referred to by such terms as Employer’s Agent, Employer’s Representative,
Contract Administrator, Project Manager or Supervising Officer or be
specified as a particular professional, such as the Architect or the Engineer.
The contract administrator may be one of the Employer’s employees.

contract completion date
The date by which the Contractor is contractually obliged to complete the
works. As well as being an overall date for completion, the contract
completion date may be the date for completion of a section of the works or a
milestone date. The expression ‘completion date’ is sometime used by
Contractors to describe the date when they plan to complete the works (which
may be earlier than the contract completion date). The Protocol avoids this
confusion by using the expression ‘contract completion date’.
Contractor
The party responsible for carrying out the works is generally referred to as the
‘Contractor’. The Protocol is applicable to sub-contracts as well as main
contracts, so when it is being applied to a sub-contract, it is the sub-contractor
that is being referred to as the ‘Contractor’ in the Protocol.
Contractor Delay
Expression commonly used to describe any delay caused by a Contractor Risk
Event. The Protocol distinguishes between: Contractor Delay to Progress
which is a delay which will merely cause delay to the Contractor’s progress
without causing a contract completion date not to be met; and Contractor
Delay to Completion which is a delay which will cause a contract completion
date not to be met.
Contractor Delay to Completion
See Contractor Delay.
Contractor Delay to Progress
See Contractor Delay.
Contractor Risk Event
An event or cause of delay which under the contract is at the risk and
responsibility of the Contractor.
Contractor’s planned completion date
The date shown on the Contractor’s programme as being the date when the
Contractor plans to complete the works under the contract.
critical delay
See critical path.
critical path
The sequence of activities through a project network from start to finish, the
sum of whose durations determines the overall project duration. There may be
more than one critical path depending on workflow logic. A delay to progress
of any activity on the critical path will, without acceleration or re-sequencing,
cause the overall project duration to be extended, and is therefore referred to
as a ‘critical delay’.

critical path analysis (CPA) and critical path method (CPM)
The critical path analysis or method is the process of deducing the critical
activities in a programme by tracing the logical sequence of tasks that directly
affect the date of project completion. It is a methodology or management
technique that determines a project’s critical path. The resulting programme
may be depicted in a number of different forms, including a Gantt or bar chart,
line-of-balance diagram, pure logic diagram, time-scaled logic diagram or as a
time-chainage diagram, depending on the nature of the works represented in
the programme.
culpable delay
Expression sometimes used to describe what the Protocol calls Contractor
Delay.
date for completion
The date by which the contractor is expected to complete the works, which
may be earlier or later than the contract completion date.
delay event
An event or cause of delay, which may be either an Employer Risk Event or a
Contractor Risk Event.
Delay to Completion
In common usage, this expression may mean either delay to the date when the
contractor planned to complete its works, or a delay to the contract completion
date. The Protocol uses the expressions Employer Delay to Completion and
Contractor Delay to Completion, both of which mean delay to a contract
completion date – see their definitions.
Delay to Progress
In the Protocol, this means a delay which will merely cause delay to the
Contractor’s progress without causing a contract completion date not to be
met. It is either an Employer Delay to Progress or a Contractor Delay to
Progress.
disruption
Disturbance, hindrance or interruption of a Contractor’s normal work
progress, resulting in lower efficiency or lower productivity than would
otherwise be achieved. Disruption does not necessarily result in a Delay to
Progress or Delay to Completion.
duration
Duration is the length of time needed to complete an activity. The time period
can be determined inductively, by determining the start and finish date of an
activity or deductively by calculation from the time necessary to expend the
resources applied to the activity.
Employer
The Employer is the party under the contract who agrees to pay for the works.
In some of the standard forms, the party who agrees to pay for the works is

referred to as the Developer, the Owner, the Client or the Authority. The
Protocol is applicable to sub-contracts as well as main contracts, so when it is
being applied to a sub-contract, it is the main contractor that is being referred
to as the Employer in the Protocol.
Employer Delay
Expression commonly used to describe any delay caused by an Employer Risk
Event. The Protocol distinguishes between: Employer Delay to Progress
which is a delay which will merely cause delay to the Contractor’s progress
without causing a contract completion date not to be met; and Employer
Delay to Completion which is a delay which will cause a contract completion
date not to be met.
Employer Delay to Completion
See Employer Delay.
Employer Delay to Progress
See Employer Delay.
Employer Risk Event
An event or cause of delay which under the contract is at the risk and
responsibility of the Employer.
excusable delay
Expression sometimes used to describe what in the Protocol is an Employer
Delay in respect of which the Contractor is entitled to an EOT.
extension of time (EOT)
Additional time granted to the Contractor to provide an extended contractual
time period or date by which work is to be, or should be completed and to
relieve it from liability for damages for delay (usually liquidated damages).
float
The time available for an activity in addition to its planned duration. See free
float and total float. Where the word ‘float’ appears in the Protocol, it means
positive not negative float, unless expressly stated otherwise.
free float
The amount of time that an activity can be delayed beyond its early start/early
finish dates without delaying the early start or early finish of any immediately
following activity.
Gantt chart
Bar chart – named after the originator, Henry Gantt.
global claim
A global claim is one in which the Contractor seeks compensation for a group
of Employer Risk Events but does not or cannot demonstrate a direct link
between the loss incurred and the individual Employer Risk Events.

hammock
An activity representing the period from the start of an activity to the
completion of another. Sometimes used as a way of summarising the duration
of a number of activities in a programme as one single duration.
hanging activity
An activity not linked to any preceding or successor activities. Same as
dangling activity.
head office overheads
Head office overheads are the incidental costs of running the Contractor’s
business as a whole and include indirect costs which cannot be directly
allocated to production, as opposed to direct costs which are the costs of
production. Amongst other things, these overheads may include such things
as rent, rates, directors’ salaries, pension fund contributions and auditors’ fees.
In accountancy terms, head office overheads are generally referred to as
administrative expenses, whereas the direct costs of production are referred to
as costs of sales.
head office overheads formulae
Hudson formula
O&P x contract sum x period of delay
100 contract period
O&P: head office overheads and profit percentage in tender.
Emden formula
O&P x contract sum x period of delay
100 contract period
O&P: head office overheads and profit percentage (actual).
Eichleay formula
contract turnover x fixed overheads for contract period total turnover
= contract contribution
contract contribution = weekly contribution from contract
contract period
weekly contribution x delay = sum claimable
See the spreadsheet referred to in the Protocol for using these formulae.
impact
The effect that a change has on an activity or the effect that a change to one
activity has on another activity.
key date
Expression sometimes used to describe a date by which an identifiable
accomplishment must be started or finished. Examples include ‘power on’,
‘weather-tight’ or the start or completion of phases of construction or of
phases or sections of the contract, or completion of the works.
lag
Lag in a network diagram is the minimum necessary lapse of time between the
finish of one activity and the finish of another overlapping activity. It may

also be described as the amount of time required between the start or finish of
a predecessor task and the start or finish of a successor task. (See logic links.)
lead
The opposite of lag, but in practice having the same meaning. A preceding
activity may have a lag to a successor activity – from the perspective of the
successor activity, that is a lead.
liquidated and ascertained damages, liquidated damages, LADs, LDs
A fixed sum, usually per week or per day, written into the contract as being
payable by the Contractor in the event that the works are not completed by the
contract completion date (original or extended).
logic links - the normal links are as follows:
Finish-to-start
The convention in figure 1 shows the normal sequential relationship of
one activity following another. Activity B cannot start until activity A
has finished.
activity
A
activity
B
Figure 1 – finish-to-start relationship
Lagged finish-to-start
In figure 2, below, ‘d’ implies a normal lag relationship between activities A
and B; that is, B cannot start until ‘d’ days have elapsed after activity A has
finished. An example of this might be the curing time of concrete between
completion of the pour and the commencement of further work on the
concrete.
activity d
A
activity
B
Figure 2 – lagged finish-to-start relationship
Start-to-start
In the relationship at figure 3, below, activity B cannot start until activity A
has started or perhaps, more accurately, activity B can start at the same time as
activity A but not before it.
activity
A
activity
B
Figure 3 – start-to-start relationship

Lagged start-to-start
In figure 4, ‘d’ indicates a start-to-start relationship with the delay imposed
showing that activity B cannot start until the period ‘d’ has elapsed after
activity A has started. This convention provides one of the facilities to overlap
the execution of activities.
activity
A
d activity
B
Figure 4 – lagged start-to-start relationship
Finish-to-finish
In the example at figure 5 of a finish-to-finish relationship, activity B cannot
finish until activity A has finished. It implies that B can finish at the same
time as A, but not before it.
activity
A
activity
B
Figure 5 – finish-to-finish relationship
Lagged finish-to-finish
In figure 6 below, ‘d’ indicates a finish-to-finish relationship but with a delay,
ie activity B cannot finish until ‘d’ days (or whatever time units have been
used) have elapsed after activity A has finished. This convention provides a
second means of overlapping timing of activities.
activity d
A
activity
B
Figure 6 – lagged finish-to-finish relationship
Lagged start and finish
There may be occasions where a lag is required both on the start and finish of
related activities. This is achieved by the convention shown below at figure 7,
that is, activity B cannot start until ‘d’ days after activity A has started and
activity B cannot finish until ‘t’ days after activity A has finished.
activity t
A
d activity
B
Figure 7 – lagged start and finish relationship

Negative lag
The arrangement or sequence in which the successor activity is allowed to
start chronologically before the predecessor activity has been completed.
Below, activity B cannot start until 4 days before A is planned to finish.
activity
A
-4
activity
B
Figure 8 – negative lag
method statement
A written description of the Contractor’s proposed manner of carrying out the
works or parts thereof, setting out the assumptions underlying the programme,
the reasoning behind the approach to the various phases of construction and
listing all the work encapsulated in the programme activities. It may also
contain the activity duration calculations and details of key resources and gang
strengths.
milestone
A key event selected for its importance in the project. Commonly used in
relation to progress, a milestone is often used to signify a key date.
mitigation
Mitigate means making less severe or less serious. In connection with Delay
to Progress or Delay to Completion, it means minimising the impact of the
Risk Event. In relation to disruption or inefficient working, it means
minimising the disruption or inefficiency. Failure to mitigate is commonly
pleaded as a defence or partial defence to a claim.
must start/ must finish
Most project management software allows the planner to specify that an
activity must start or must finish on a specific date. Using the software in this
way restricts the ability of the programme to react dynamically to change on
the project.
negative lag
See logic links above.
negative total float
Expression sometimes used to describe the time by which the duration of an
activity or path has to be reduced in order to permit a limiting imposed date to
be achieved. Negative float only occurs when an activity on the critical path is
behind programme. It is a programming concept, the manifestation of which
is, of course, delay.

non-compensable event
Expression sometimes used to describe what the Protocol calls a Contractor
Risk Event.
non-excusable delay
Expression sometimes used to describe what the Protocol calls Contractor
Delay.
path
An activity or an unbroken sequence of activities in a project network.
PERT
Programme Evaluation and Review Technique: a programming technique,
similar to critical path analysis, but whereby the probability of completing by
the contract completion date is determined and monitored by way of a
quantified risk assessment based on optimistic, pessimistic and most likely
activity durations.
planned completion date
See Contractor’s planned completion date.
Practical Completion
The completion of all the construction work that has to be done, subject only
to very minor items of work left incomplete. It is generally the date when the
obligation to insure passes from the Contractor to the Employer and the date
from which the defects liability period runs. This is the term used under the
Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) family of contracts. Under the Institution of
Civil Engineers (ICE) forms and in the International Federation of Consulting
Engineers (FIDIC) forms it is referred to as Substantial Completion.
precedence diagram
A multiple dependency, activity-on-node network in which a sequence arrow
represents one of four forms of precedence relationship, depending on the
positioning of the head and the tail of the sequence arrow. (See logic links.)
programme
The programme illustrates the major sequencing and phasing requirements of
the project. Otherwise known as the schedule.
prolongation
Prolongation is the extended duration of the works during which costs are
incurred as a result of a delay.
resource
Expression used to describe any variable capable of definition that is required
for the completion of an activity and may constrain the project. This may be a
person, item of equipment, service or material that is used in accomplishing a
project task.

resource levelling
Expression used to describe the process of amending a schedule to reduce the
variation between maximum and minimum values of resource requirements.
The process removes peaks, troughs and conflicts in resource demands by
moving activities within their early and late dates and taking up float. Most
project planning software offers an automated resource-levelling routine that
will defer the performance of a task within the imposed logical constraints
until the resources assigned to the tasks are available.
Risk Event
See Employer Risk Event and Contractor Risk Event.
schedule
Another name for the programme.
slack
Another name for total float.
sub-network
A group of activities or durations, logically linked. In the Protocol it is to be
used to illustrate the work flowing directly from an Employer Risk Event.
Substantial Completion
See Practical Completion.
time impact analysis
Method of delay analysis where the impacts of particular delays are mapped
out at the point in time at which they occur, allowing the discrete effect of
individual events to be determined.
total float
The amount of time that an activity may be delayed beyond its early start/early
finish dates without delaying the contract completion date.
Updated Programme
In the Protocol the Updated Programme is the Accepted Programme updated
with all progress achieved. The final Updated Programme should depict the
as-built programme.
works
What the Contractor is obliged to construct is referred to as the works.

APPENDIX B
Model specification clause
The following model clause has been drafted to be included in the
specification section of a project’s tender documents. The requirements are
intended to be suitable for large complex projects. However, the principles of
the requirements represent good practice and should be applied to smaller
projects where practicable. The words in the model clause will need to be
reviewed and amended to ensure that the terms and terminology used are
consistent with the conditions of contract and/or agreement for the project.
1. Generally
1.1 This clause describes the requirements for the preparation, submittal,
update and revision of the Contractor’s programme. The
requirements are in addition to or expand upon the requirements set
out in Clauses [ ] of the Conditions of Contract/Agreement. [Delete
that which does not apply.]
1.2 The Contractor’s programme shall be used by the Contractor to plan
and execute the Works. The programme will also be used by the CA
to monitor progress and be the basis for the assessment of extensions
of time and the effect of delay on the progress of the Works.
1.3 The programme shall be produced by the Contractor in the following
phases:
1.3.1 Initial Programme. An initial programme for the first three
months of work. [On smaller projects the Initial Programme
may be omitted.]
1.3.2 Accepted Programme. A programme (incorporating the
Initial Programme) for the totality of the Works, which shall
be submitted to the CA for its acceptance. If the CA does
not accept it, this programme shall be revised and
resubmitted for acceptance as set out in the Contract. [In
some standard forms of contract it is called the Approved or
Master Programme.]
1.3.3 Updated Programme. The Accepted Programme shall be
updated with actual progress and saved on at least a monthly
basis for record purposes. The Contractor may submit for
acceptance by the CA other revisions to the Accepted or
Updated programmes.
1.4 Acceptance by the CA of any phase of the Contractor’s programme
does not make the programme a contract document, or mandate that
the Works shall be constructed strictly in accordance with the

programme. The Contractor at all times remains responsible for the
construction of the Works in accordance with [the clause of the
conditions of contract that sets out the Contractor’s basic
obligations].
1.5 If at any time there is a dispute or difference between the Contractor
and CA over any matter concerning the Contractor’s programme, then
immediate steps should be taken by either party to have the dispute
settled in accordance with [the clause of the conditions of contract
that sets out the contract dispute resolution provisions].
2. Submission of programme
2.1 Within two weeks of the award of the Contract [or such other time as
may be specified in the Contract], the Contractor shall submit to the
CA for its information an Initial Programme showing the order in
which the Contractor proposes to carry out the works anticipated in
the first three months following the award of the Contract. The Initial
Programme shall have regard to the contract completion dates and
any other milestones, and/or restraints set out in the Contract.
2.2 Within four weeks of award of the Contract [or such other time as
may be specified in the Contract], the Contractor shall submit to the
CA for its review and acceptance a programme for the whole
Contract (incorporating the Initial Programme) showing the order of
procedure in which the Contractor proposes to carry out the Works.
This programme becomes the Accepted Programme upon acceptance
by the CA. The Accepted Programme shall have regard to the
contract completion dates and any other milestones, and/or restraints
set out in the Contract. Thereafter, if the actual progress does not
conform with the Accepted Programme, the CA is entitled to require
the Contractor to submit to the CA for acceptance a revised
programme showing the order of procedure and periods necessary to
ensure completion of the Works by the contract completion dates.
2.3 The Contractor shall furnish the Method Statement and such other
details and information as the CA may reasonably require to accept
the Accepted Programme.
2.4 The Contractor shall supply the CA with an electronic copy of each
programme, together with a print out bar chart or tabular report in a
pre-agreed format. All programmes shall be prepared and submitted
using the specified or agreed project planning software. The software
shall be capable of producing programmes and information that
complies with the requirements of this clause and shall be in a format
that can be read by commercially available proprietary planning
software. [The CA and the Contractor should use the same project
planning software. If the software is named in the Contract the
Contractor should be required to use it in preference to its own
software. If the Contractor is allowed to use its own software it

should be required to provide a copy to the CA. The Contractor
could be required to provide a computer loaded up with its software
and items included in the Bills of Quantity for the provision of this
equipment, including all up-dates and licences, and the costs of
complying with the programme and monitoring requirements.]
2.5 Within 10 working days of the Contractor submitting a programme
complete with all the information required by this clause to the CA
for acceptance, the CA will accept the programme or give its reasons
for not accepting the programme. If such reasons are given, the
Contractor shall take account of the reasons and resubmit the
programme within a period of 10 working days. If the CA does not
accept or reject the programme within 15 working days, the CA shall
be deemed to have accepted the programme as submitted.
2.6 By agreement, the Contractor and the CA may dispense with print-
outs of the various forms of the Contractor’s programme, but under
no circumstances may they dispense with the submission of the
required electronic copies.
3. Default in submission of programmes
The following are example default clauses in the Protocol’s
descending order of preference. The clauses might best be included
in the conditions of contract but, if included in the specification or
elsewhere, the clauses in the conditions of contract should be
reviewed to ensure consistency with these example clauses:
• Should the Contractor fail to submit a programme for
acceptance as the Accepted Programme in accordance with
paragraph 2.2 above, or not regularly update the Accepted
Programme as an Updated Programme, the CA shall be entitled
to reduce by one quarter the amount due to the Contractor in
interim payment certificates until the Contractor has complied
with its obligations in respect of the programme.
• In the event that the Contractor does not submit to the CA a
programme for acceptance as the Accepted Programme in
accordance with paragraph 2.2 above or does not regularly
update the Accepted Programme as an Updated Programme,
the Contractor shall become immediately liable to pay to the
Employer liquidated damages at the rate(s) stated in the
Contract. [The liquidated damages should be pre-estimated to
represent the likely cost to the Employer of doing what the
Contractor should have done in relation to the preparation and
updating of the programme - this may be difficult, but the fact
that it is difficult makes it less likely that a bona fide estimate
would be treated as a penalty.]
• Failure by the Contractor to submit a draft programme for
acceptance by the CA as the Accepted Programme in

accordance with paragraph 2.2 or to update the Accepted
Programme as an Updated Programme shall constitute an event
of default justifying termination of the engagement of the
Contractor after notice in accordance with [the clause of the
conditions of contract that sets out the matters dealing with
Contractor defaults and termination].
4. Preparation of Programmes
The Initial Programme
4.1 The Initial Programme shall show the first three months’ work in the
same level of detail as is required for the Accepted Programme set out
in paragraph 4.3 below, but only insofar as it applies to the first three
months of the Contract Period.
4.2 The Initial Programme shall also be presented as a programme in bar
chart form showing the detailed activities in the period covered by the
network diagram, together with the major activities and milestones in
the remainder of the period of the Contract. The Initial Programme
shall be presented as or be accompanied by the schedules referred to
in paragraph 4.4 and, if necessary, paragraph 4.5 below.
The Accepted Programme
4.3 The programme submitted by the Contractor in accordance with
paragraph 2.2 above becomes the Accepted Programme upon
acceptance by the CA. The Accepted Programme shall form the
Contractor’s basic strategy for the completion of the Works by the
contract completion date. The programme to be accepted may either
be at the direction of the CA in a linked bar chart format or
precedence network format prepared using techniques acceptable to
the CA and shall show as far as reasonably practicable:
4.3.1 The activities in all work packages including those by the
principal sub-contractors and suppliers, statutory
undertakers, those contractors and suppliers directly
employed by the Employer and others.
4.3.2 The earliest and latest start and finish dates for every activity
in each work package. Activities shall include all scope
activities and any activities or time durations expected in
addition to scope activities.
4.3.3 Access dates for each phase or section.
4.3.4 The earliest and latest start and finish dates for each phase or
section, including dates when the Contractor plans to
complete work to allow the Employer and others to do their
work.
4.3.5 Milestone and Key Dates.
4.3.6 Holiday periods.
4.3.7 Dates by which design work or drawings to be produced by
the Contractor or sub-contractors or suppliers will be

submitted to the CA for acceptance and dates by which
acceptance of such design work or drawings will be required
by the Contractor, allowing time for submittals, re-submittals
and reviews.
4.3.8 Dates by which samples to be produced by the Contractor
will be submitted for approval by the CA and dates by which
approval of such samples will be required by the Contractor,
allowing time for submittals, re-submittals and reviews.
4.3.9 Procurement periods and delivery dates for the major items
of goods, plant and materials.
4.3.10 Dates by which work will be ready for testing by the
CA/Employer.
4.3.11 Details and dates of any information required from the
Employer.
4.3.12 The work contained in defined Provisional Sums.
4.3.13 Activities representing the likely work content of undefined
Provisional Sums, complete with logic links but with
durations set to zero (unless specified otherwise).
4.3.14 Commissioning periods.
4.3.15 Provisions for float, time risk allowances, quality control
procedures, health and safety requirements [and any other
requirements that may be set out in the Contract].
4.4 The Accepted Programme shall also be presented as schedules
showing an analysis of the network including:
4.4.1 A schedule of all activities tabulated in order of earliest
starting date and showing for each activity:
4.4.1.1 Activity number and brief description;
4.4.1.2 Preceding and succeeding activity numbers;
4.4.1.3 Duration;
4.4.1.4 Earliest and latest starting and finishing dates;
4.4.1.5 Total and Free float.
4.4.2 A schedule of leads and lags with (if requested by the
CA/Employer) reasons for them. Excessive leads and lags,
negative lags or open/hanging activities, use of fixed dates
and any other programming activities that can have the effect
of creating false criticality or inhibiting the programme from
reacting dynamically to change should be avoided.
4.4.3 A schedule of all activities lying on the paths containing the
least float, namely the critical activities.
4.4.4 A schedule identifying the days of working per week, shifts
per working day and holidays. Where multiple calendars are
used, this information shall be provided for each of the
calendars, accompanied by a schedule indicating the calendar
applicable to each activity.
4.4.5 A schedule giving details of the Contractor’s resource
requirements in terms of manpower, gang sizes, tradesmen,
work rates, items of plant or equipment and materials and
quantities of work allowed for in sufficient detail to explain
the Contractor’s activity durations. Activities that may be

the Contractor’s activity durations. Activities that may be
expedited by use of overtime, additional shifts or any other
means shall be identified and explained.
4.5 The Accepted Programme shall also be presented with or be
accompanied by the following schedules:
4.5.1 A schedule of all submittals and material procurement
activities, including time for submittals, re-submittals and
reviews and time for fabrication and delivery of
manufactured products. The interdependence of
procurement and construction activities shall be included in
the schedule.
4.5.2 A schedule giving the monetary value of each activity for
cash flow purposes. The sum of the monetary values shall
total the Contract amount. The schedule shall also give the
payment items applicable to the activity monetary values.
4.5.3 A schedule giving the information stated in paragraph 4.6
below.
4.6 The Accepted Programme shall be prepared in sufficient detail to
ensure the adequate planning, execution and monitoring of the work.
Activities should generally range in duration up to 28 calendar days
(single trade activities with uniform rates of progress might be
excepted) and the number of activities with duration of less than
seven calendar days should be kept to a minimum to make progress
monitoring on larger projects more manageable.
4.7 The Accepted Programme shall take into account all time risk
allowances, including time for the weather conditions (rain, wind,
frost and snow) reasonably to be anticipated by the Contractor. The
Contract time has been defined on the assumption that the weather
conditions will conform to at least a 10 year average of the conditions
prevailing at the Site. The Contractor shall provide this data and a
summation of the assumed number of adverse weather days per
month to the CA with the programme.
4.8 The CA is entitled to withhold its acceptance of a programme
showing the work completed earlier than the contract completion date
if that programme is reasonably considered by the CA to be not
achievable.
5 Methods of construction and temporary works
5.1 At the same time as the Contractor submits the programme in sub-
clause 2.2 [or such other time as may be specified in the Contract],
the Contractor shall submit to the CA for its acceptance a general
description of the arrangements and methods of construction and
Temporary Works designs the Contractor proposes to adopt for the
carrying out of the Works (‘the Method Statement’). The Method

Statement should be fully cross-referenced to the activities in the
programme.
5.2 The Contractor shall submit to the CA sufficient information as may
be considered reasonably necessary by the CA to interpret, evaluate
and give acceptance to the Method Statement.
5.3 The Contractor shall, whenever required by the CA, furnish for its
information further and more detailed particulars of the Contractor’s
Method Statement.
5.4 Should the Contractor wish to change a Method Statement or should
the CA subsequently consider it necessary to change a Method
Statement to which acceptance has previously been given, then the
Contractor shall submit a revised Method Statement to the CA for its
acceptance.
5.5 Acceptance by the CA of the Contractor’s Method Statement does not
make the Method Statement a contract document, or mandate that the
Works shall be constructed strictly in accordance with the Method
Statement. The Contractor at all times remains responsible for the
construction of the Works in accordance with [the clause of the
conditions of contract that sets out the Contractor’s basic
obligations].
6 Cash flow estimates
6.1 Within four weeks of the award of the Contract [or such other time as
may be specified in the Contract] the Contractor shall submit to the
CA for its information a detailed cash flow estimate, in quarterly
periods, of all payments to which the Contractor considers it will be
entitled to under the Contract. The Contractor shall subsequently
submit such revised cash flow estimates at quarterly intervals based
on the Updated Programme, if required by the CA.
7 Revising and updating the programmes
The Accepted Programme
7.1 The Accepted Programme (or, if the Accepted Programme has
already been updated, the Updated Programme) and the
corresponding Method Statement if required by the CA shall be
revised by the Contractor within 10 working days of the Contractor
changing its methods and/or sequences of working or, if the changes
are frequent, revised at least every month. The programme shall also
be revised within 10 working days of the grant by the CA of an
extension of time, or whenever circumstances arise that in the opinion
of the CA affect the progress of the Works. Each revision to the
programme shall be submitted to the CA for its review and

acceptance Once a revised programme is accepted by the CA, it
replaces the previously Accepted or Updated Programme.
7.2 Each revised programme submitted for acceptance shall be presented
as or be accompanied by the schedules referred to in paragraph 4.4
and, if necessary, paragraph 4.5 above, together with any
amendments to the Method Statement.
The Updated Programme
7.3 The Accepted Programme shall be updated for actual progress at least
once every month and the updates shall be archived as separate
electronic files for record purposes. The updates shall be to all scope
activities and any additional activities carried out or time durations
experienced in addition to the scope activities. Actual progress shall
be recorded by means of actual start and actual finish dates for
activities, together with percentage completion and/or remaining
duration of currently incomplete activities. Any periods of
suspension of an activity should be noted in the Updated Programme.
Each Updated Programme shall be submitted to the CA for its
acceptance as a record. It is possible (if the Works have been
delayed) that these Updated Programmes will show completion later
than the contract completion dates. In this event the CA’s acceptance
of such programmes will not constitute acceptance of the delay(s).
7.4 The Updated Programmes will be used by the CA to monitor the
Contractor’s performance against the Accepted Programme, forecast
work to be performed in the subsequent period and to assess
extensions of time at the time the cause of delay occurs. In order to
provide effective monitoring of performance, the Contractor shall
also provide to the CA the progress reports as described in Clause [ ]
of the Specification [see Appendix C of the Protocol] and the cash
flow estimates described in paragraph 6.1 above.
[The Updated Programmes are often prepared on a rolling basis
showing the first three months of work in detail, with the remainder of
the programmes showing the major activities and milestones only.
The final Updated Programme may be used as the as-built
Programme.]

APPENDIX C
Model records clause
The following model clauses have been drafted to be included in the
specification section of a project’s tender documents (or in the contract
conditions if the parties choose). Clause 1 is intended to be suitable for small
projects and clause 2 for medium to high value or medium to highly complex
projects. Clause 2 could also be used in part on smaller projects, and the
Employer could treat the list as a menu of potential documents that it would
like to be submitted, depending on its level of risk, administrative staff and
facilities.
1. Simple records clause
The Employer and the Contractor agree that there shall be [daily]
[weekly] records kept [by the Contractor] identifying generally the
activities on site, labour on site, plant on site, sub-contractor work on
site, delivery of material to the site, list of any instructions given,
weather conditions encountered, and any delays encountered which
shall be submitted regularly to the CA or the Employer on a [weekly]
[monthly] basis.
2. Records clause for medium to high value or medium to
highly complex projects
2.1 The Contractor shall maintain and submit current records of activities,
including the work of sub-contractors and suppliers.
2.2 The records shall be in a form as agreed between the parties and shall
include:
2.2.1 identification of contractor/sub-contractor working and their
area of responsibility;
2.2.2 operating plant/equipment with hours worked, idle or down
for repair;
2.2.3 work performed to date giving the location, description and
by whom, and reference to the contract programme;
2.2.4 test results and references to specification requirements. List
deficiencies identified, together with the corrective action;
2.2.5 material received with statement as to its acceptability and
storage;
2.2.6 information or drawings reviewed with reference to the
contract specifications, by whom, and action taken;
2.2.7 job safety evaluations;
2.2.8 progress photographs;

2.2.9 a list of instructions given and received and any conflicts in
plans and/or specifications;
2.2.10 weather conditions encountered;
2.2.11 the number of persons working on-site by trade, activity and
location;
2.2.12 information required from and by the Employer/CA;
2.2.13 any delays encountered.
2.3 The parties should agree the intervals at which each of these types of
records should be delivered to the CA.
2.4 The daily reports shall be delivered to the CA at the end of the
working week to which they relate [or as otherwise agreed].
2.5 A report shall be submitted for each day of work performed and shall
be numbered sequentially.
2.6 The report shall be signed and dated by the CA.
2.7 Any deficiency in the work shall be identified. As deficiencies are
corrected, such corrections shall be acknowledged on the daily report.
2.8 The CA shall notify the Contractor of any non-compliance with the
reporting requirements. All the deficiencies cited and verbal
instructions given to the Contractor by the Employer/CA shall be
entered on the daily report.
2.9 A weekly report shall be delivered by the Contractor to the
Employer/CA within 2 working days of the end of the week to which
it relates [or as otherwise agreed]. The weekly report shall be in a
form as agreed between the parties and shall include:
2.9.1 summary of the work performed;
2.9.2 summary of the works performed as referenced on the agreed
programme;
2.9.3 summary of the list of deficiencies;
2.9.4 summary of any delays encountered.
2.10 A monthly report shall be delivered by the Contractor to the
Employer/CA within 5 days of the end of each agreed monthly period
[or as otherwise agreed]. The monthly report shall be on a form as
agreed between the parties and shall include:
2.10.1 summary of the work performed;
2.10.2 summary of the works performed as referenced on the agreed
programme;
2.10.3 summary of the list of deficiencies;
2.10.4 summary of any delays encountered.

APPENDIX D
Graphics illustrating points in this Protocol
Illustrations of principles and practice set out in the Protocol are contained in
the following figures 1 to 9.
Figure 1: Accepted Programme (prior to any delay)
Figure 2: Non-critical Employer Risk Event on path 1 while programme
with float
Figure 3: Critical Employer Delay on path 1 while programme has float
Figure 4: Critical Employer Delay on path 2 while programme has float
Figure 5: Employer Delay on path 1 while Contractor in critical delay on
path 1
Figure 6: Employer Risk Event while Contractor working after Contract
Completion Date
Figure 7: Employer Risk Event while Contractor in critical delay
Figure 8: Employer Risk Event on path 2 while Contractor in critical
delay on path 1
Figure 9: Employer Risk Event on path 2 while Contractor in
unrecoverable critical delay on path 1

Figure1:AcceptedProgramme(priortoanydelay)
74 SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol: October 2002

Figure2:Non-criticalEmployerRiskEventonpath1whileprogrammewithfloat

Figure3:CriticalEmployerDelayonpath1whileprogrammehasfloat

Figure4:CriticalEmployerDelayonpath2whileprogrammehasfloat

Figure5:EmployerDelayonpath1whileContractorincriticaldelayonpath1

Figure6:EmployerRiskEventwhileContractorworkingafterContractCompletionDate
EoT=4days
CompensationforProlongation=4days
EoT=4days
CompensationforProlongation=4days

Figure7:EmployerRiskEventwhileContractorincriticaldelay

Figure8:EmployerRiskEventonpath2whileContractorincriticaldelayonpath1

Figure9:EmployerRiskEventonpath2whileContractorinunrecoverablecriticaldelayonpath1

ISBN 0-9543831-1-7
“The object of the Society
is to promote the study and understanding of
construction law amongst all those involved
in the construction industry”
MEMBERSHIP/ADMINISTRATION ENQUIRIES
Jackie Morris
67 Newbury Street
Wantage, Oxon OX12 8DJ
Tel: 01235 770606
Fax: 01235 770580
E-mail: admin@scl.org.uk
Website: www.scl.org.uk

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