Avoiding Construction Disputes Pt. 3
- phil8034
- Feb 21, 2022
- 1 min read
Reasons for not giving Notice of Change
Given by Contractors:
There are very few justifiable reasons for a Contractor not to give the notices of Change specified in the Contract. Force Majeure may occasionally be one.
The most often repeated reasons are:
We don't want to upset the Employer, the Project Manager, Site Supervisor, Inspectors etc.
It's not our company's way of doing business
with this Employer we always do a deal at Completion
Employers’ personnel change, what happened on one contract is not guaranteed to happen again. Without timely notices of Change it is the Contractor who loses out.
Given by Employers:
This is more open to interpretation.
Contracts generally contain provisions that if the Contractor becomes aware of a Change then he has to notify it.
Some Employers rely on these provisions and the condition precedents attached to them and don't bother to notify Change even when issuing revised drawings, specifications or giving instructions changing the Work.
Good Practice and Dispute Avoidance
There should be no stigma attached to either Party complying with their obligations of the Contract. In fact, this should be actively encouraged.
When the Employer changes the Work he should notify the change. He should not leave it to the Contractor to notify the Change and time-bar him if the notice is late.
The Parties should close out Change Orders as quickly as possible including impacts on Completion and/or possible acceleration measures.
Projects must be manned with sufficient qualified staff to cope with the volume of Change.
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