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Scheduling

Concurrent Delay

In Plain English

When both the owner and the contractor are causing delay to the project at the same time.

Definition

Concurrent delay occurs when two or more independent delay events from different parties (owner and contractor) affect the critical path simultaneously during the same time period. When delays are truly concurrent, the contractor is typically entitled to a time extension but not delay damages, because the contractor's own concurrent delay prevents recovery of extended general conditions from the owner. Concurrent delay analysis is highly fact-specific and frequently disputed.

Why It Matters in Bidding

Concurrent delay directly affects who pays for extended project time, making it central to bidding risk and contingency decisions. Contractors price schedule risk into their bids partly because concurrent delay can entitle them to a time extension but bar recovery of delay damages, leaving them carrying extended general conditions. Clear schedule documentation from day one is what later determines whether a delay claim survives.

Example

When an owner's late design release overlaps a contractor's own labor shortage on the critical path, the schedule analyst maps both delays day by day to argue they were concurrent, supporting a time extension while the owner disputes any compensable damages.

Related Terms

Frequently Asked Questions

It usually splits the remedy: the contractor may earn more time but loses the right to collect extended overhead or delay damages because its own delay ran in parallel. This makes concurrency one of the most litigated issues in construction claims and a key reason contractors maintain detailed, contemporaneous schedule records.
They build schedule contingency and realistic general-conditions durations into the bid, and review contract clauses on time extensions, liquidated damages, and no-damage-for-delay provisions. Recognizing that concurrent delay may forfeit damage recovery, prudent bidders price the risk of carrying extended overhead rather than assuming full reimbursement.
A baseline schedule, regularly updated progress schedules, daily reports, photos, and correspondence tied to specific critical-path activities. Because concurrency is fact-specific, the party with the better contemporaneous record usually prevails. Analysts use these to compare the owner's and contractor's delay events on the critical path during the same period.

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