A contractor's demand for more money or time because someone else's actions slowed down the project.
A delay claim is a demand by the contractor for additional compensation and/or time resulting from project delays caused by the owner, designer, or other parties for which the contractor is not responsible. Delay claims require documentation of the cause, duration, and cost impact of the delay. They are among the most common and complex disputes in construction.
Delay claims directly affect a contractor's recovery of time and money, and how a bid is priced often determines whether a claim later succeeds. Clear baseline schedules, documented assumptions, and well-defined scope at bid time create the record needed to prove an excusable, compensable delay. Weak documentation turns a legitimate delay into an unrecoverable cost the contractor absorbs.
When the owner takes six weeks longer than specified to approve a critical shop drawing, the contractor files a delay claim with the as-planned versus as-built schedule, showing the holdup pushed the critical path and seeking both a time extension and extended general conditions.
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