20.1 CONTRACTOR ’ S CLAIMS
We have already seen that in the the two Books the Contractor must give his
initial notice of claim within 28 days of the date on which he became or ought
to have become aware of the event or circumstance giving rise to the claim.
We have also see that, should he be late with this initial notice, then under the
express terms of clause 20.1 he is prevented from pursuing any claim in respect
of that event or circumstance.
The initial notice in order to be valid need not take any particular form but
must ‘[describe]
the event or circumstance giving rise to the claim ’. An effective
initial notice thus need not quantify the claim or describe in any detail the
situation or event giving rise to it. The essential purpose of the notice is to
alert the Employer or Engineer to the existence of a situation or event which
the Contractor treats as giving rise to an entitlement; the Employer or Engineer
can then investigate the circumstances as soon as possible.
Assuming that the Contractor does give his initial notice in time, the next
steps in the processing of the Contractor ’ s claim are, in summary, as follows.
The detailed claim
Within 42 days after he became aware, or should have been aware, of the event
or circumstance (or within any extended period agreed with the Engineer or
Employer), the Contractor must submit a fully detailed claim with full supporting
particulars of the basis of the claim and of the amount of time or money claimed.
If a claim event or circumstance has a continuing effect then:
●
the fully detailed claim is to be considered as interim;
●
the Contractor is to submit at monthly intervals further interim claims,
giving the accumulated delay and/or amount claimed; and
●
he is to submit his final claim within 28 days after the end of the effects
resulting from the event or circumstance giving rise to the claim.
The Engineer or Employer ’ s response
Within 42 days of receiving a claim or any further details supporting a previ-
ous claim (or any agreed extension to this timetable), the Engineer or
Employer must respond with approval, or disapproval and detailed com-
ments. He might request necessary further information but he should at least
respond on the principles of the claim within this period.
Determining the claim
The Engineer or Employer is to proceed in accordance with clause 3.5 (see