Insights
Guides on the issues that cause the most argument on site and in payment schedules. Each one is drawn from contracts I’ve administered, with the parties left out. General guidance only, not advice on a particular contract.
Most back charges fail on the route through the contract, not the amount. Find the clause, read what it actually requires and prove the cause.
Measured items priced twice, percentage complete on lump sums, overheads on top of overheads and hours nobody recorded.
Why delay is never measured from the instruction, the 3 timelines that separate the parties’ delay and the counting traps.
The due date, double counting with variations, cost fluctuation in a negative month and a reason for every difference.
Row arithmetic, where costs are booked, columns that aren’t the contractor’s and errors that cancel each other out.
The fix, the reason, the classification, the records and the time pathway, in 1 notice, the same day.
Released on evidence, not programme. The criterion that appears after award. Why supplying a material doesn’t move the QA.
What the report establishes, what it doesn’t, what the project data says and the triggers that would make the change acceptable.
The Acts, regulations and client rules around an NZS 3910 contract, which clauses each one touches and which ones a contract can’t override.
Contractor’s Bond, cash retention, bond in lieu and Principal’s Bond: what is held at each stage, when it comes back and where the gaps are.
What the 2023 split was meant to fix, why one person in both roles undoes the 6.4 review and the middle ground on small jobs.
What can be delegated, what stays with the Engineer and why that matters on site.
Each option against the contract, programme and cost, who was consulted first and how to make a recommendation a client can act on.
Free tool
Describe a variation, delay or payment problem and the contract question tool works it through using the same method as these guides. Use it to test your thinking before you respond.