1.

Introduction
Thepenaltyprovisionsforlatecompletionfoundinconstructioncontractsareforthebenefitoftheemployer.
Ifthecontractordoesnotmeettheagreedcompletiondate(orsectionalcompletiondates)itwouldbeliable
topaytotheemployerafixedamountofmoneyforeachdaythattheprojectislateeitherasaliquidated
damageorapenalty(delaydamages).Itmaybethatthepenaltyforsuchnoncompletioniscapped,
however.Inordertoavoidliabilityforliquidateddamagesordelaydamages,thecontractorhastoprovethat
theeventorcircumstancehasdelayedcompletionoftheprojectbeyondtheagreeddateforcompletionfor
reasonsthatarenotofthecontractorsownmakingandareadmissibleasreasonsforextensionoftimein
accordancewiththecontract.Thecontractorthereforehastoprovethatthecauseofthedelayisanemployer
causeoraneutralcause,notacauseattributabletothecontractorhimself.Aneutralcauseisacausewhich
isnotthefaultoftheemployerorcontractor(IBCConstructionSummerLawSchool2010,Specialist
WorkshopTimeandDelay:ThebasicsundertheCommonLawandStandardforms,PatrickHolmes,
MacfarlanesLLP).Inachievingthisobject,thecontractormustemployadelayanalysismethodology
acceptabletotheengineer,adjudicatororarbitratorasthecasemaybe.Thereare5commonlyuseddelay
analysismethodswhichareasfollows:
Impactedasplannedmethod
Timeimpactanalysismethod
Collapsedasbuiltorbutforanalysismethod
Snapshot/windows/timesliceanalysismethodand
Asplannedversusasbuiltwindowsanalysismethod(DavidBarry,SocietyofConstructionLaw,January
2005,D95).
Inthisarticletheauthorexaminesonlythefirsttwomethodsofdelayanalysis.Theremainderwillbe
analysedinalaterarticle.
2.Theimpactedasplannedmethod
Thismethodofassessingadelayistoestablishthehypotheticalimpactofthedelayeventsonthebaseline
schedule.Itisaprospectiveanalysismethodwhichmeansthatitreferstothefutureandseeksto
determinethelikelyimpactofaparticularevent(s)onprojectcompletion.Thecontractorsuperimposesthe
delayeventsintothebaselineschedule,linkstheminanappropriatemannerandrecalculatestheschedule.
Theresultantimpactoftheeventsshownonthecompletiondateisthensaidtobethecriticaldelayimpact
(Barry,2005).
Thefollowingtasksarerequiredtocarryoutthistechnique:
Firstly,thecontractormustestablishthatthebaselineschedulewasachievable.Ifthisisnotpossiblethen
thecalculateddelaymaynotbecorrectforthereasonthatsomeorallofthecalculateddelaywillhavebeen
inevitable.
Secondly,thecontractormustensurethatthescheduleissuitablefordynamicsimulation.Thismeansthat
itwillinvolveschedulecalculationthroughsimulationusingcomputersandschedulingsoftware.Ifthe
scheduleisnotcapableofdynamicsimulationthenthecontractorhastomakeadjustmentstotheschedules
logicandinparticulartoreplacingappliedconstraintsinorderfortheactivitiestoreactappropriatelyduring
theanalysis.
Thirdly,thecontractormustestablishthenature,extentandrelationshipsofthedelayeventtobe
introducedsothatitcanbeappropriatelylinkedintheschedule(Barry,2005).

Thedownfallofthismethodisthatitdoesnotshowwhetheradelaytocompletionwasactuallyincurredasa
consequenceofthemodelleddelayevents.Secondly,thismethoddoesnotdemonstratethatadelaytothe
workwaslikelytooccurasaconsequenceoftheintroduced(simulated)delayeventssuperimposedintothe
programmeasitusesthebaselinescheduleforanalysisandignorestheeffectofactualprogressoftheworks
Inanycivillegalmattertheclaimants(usuallythecontractor)burdenofprooftoestablishanentitlementto
anextensionoftimeforcompletionisonabalanceofprobabilities.Thefactisthatthisanalysismethoddoes
notshowonabalanceofprobabilitiesthatadelaywaslikelytooccurasaconsequenceoftheintroduced
delayevents.Asaresultthecontractorwillnothavesatisfieditsburdenofproofasitcannotshowthatitwas
evenprobablethattheeventscomplainedofhavecausedthedelay.
3.Thetimeimpactanalysismethod
ThismethodofanalysingadelayisrecommendedbytheSocietyofConstructionLawDelayandDisruption
ProtocolintheUnitedKingdom(SCLProtocol)(Barry,2005).Thismethodologyisbothprospective(forward
looking)andadynamicone.Ithasonesignificantvariantontheimpactedasplannedmethodinthatfor
eachintroduceddelayevent,thenetworkedbaselinescheduleisfirstupdatedwithprogresstoapointin
timejustbeforethedelayeventarose.Thismeansthatittakesaccountoftheeffectofprogressandtiming
ofdelayeventsontheworks.Clearlyitrequiresgoodasbuiltdatawithwhichtoupdatetheschedule(Barry,
2005).
Thequestionthatmustbeaskedis,whenisonesupposedtousethismethodofassessingadelay?Barry
(2005)recommendsthisasanappropriatemethodtouseduringaprojectbutisaquestionablemethodof
assessingadelayinpostcontractdisputeresolutions.Inpostcontractdisputesitisnotnecessarytoprove
thelikelyimpactofaneventontheprogressoftheworks(Barry,2005).
Contractualprovisionsrequirecontemporaneousnotices,particularsand/orassessmentoftheentitlementto
anextensionoftime.Theseprovisions,whenproperlyfollowed,facilitaterealtimeprojectandcontract
managementandprovideabalancedandfairapproachtoresolvingpossiblecomplexprogrammingmattersin
atimelymanner(Barry,2005).TheSCLProtocolhasmadethefollowingstatementsinrespectofthis
method:
EntitlementtoanEOTdoesnotautomaticallyleadtoentitlementtocompensationandcompensation
forprolongationshouldnotbepaidforanythingotherthanworkactuallydone,timeactuallytakenuporloss
and/orexpenseactuallysuffered.,theamountofEOT[determinedbytheTimeImpactAnalysis]maynot
preciselyreflecttheactualdelaysufferedbytheContractor.,Timeimpactanalysisisgenerallythemost
timeconsumingandcostlywhenperformedforensically.(Barry,2005).
Barry(2005)setsoutthefollowingcriteriatoproduceareliabletimeimpactanalysis:
Baselineschedulemustbeshowntobeachievable,
Thelogicintheschedulemustbecapableofcorrectlysimulatingthelikelyeffectofthedelayevent,
Detailedasbuiltdataisrequired,
Theremainingplannedsequenceofthescheduleforeachtimeslicepriortoimpactingthedelayeventmust
reflectthecontractorsknownfutureintentions,
Thedelayeventsintroducedintheanalysisshouldbebasedonlyuponinformationknownatthedateofthe
timeslice.
4.Conclusion

Inordertoachievethemostaccurateresultofthetimeimpactanalysismethod,detailedasbuiltdatais
required,andcontractsthereforerequirecontemporaneousnoticeandrecorddocumentssupportingthe
contractorsclaimforanEOT.Thismeansthatthecontractorhastohaveaccuraterecordsonsiteto
substantiateaclaimforanEOTandthatitmustprove,onabalanceofprobabilitiesthattheeventhas
delayedcompletion.Jargonsuchasdynamicschedulecalculationsandprospectivetechniqueaside,the
followingwassaidbyLordDrummondYounginCityInnvShepherdConstruction,2007,CSOH190and
[2008]1BLRItseemstomethatitisaquestionoffactinanygivencasewhetherarelevanteventhas
causedorislikelytocauseadelaytotheworksbeyondthecompletiondate.
WrittenbyNielCoertse,AssociateatMDAConsulting