Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
covered up work?
There are two possible reasons why there may be a problem with work covered up. The
first is that the work may be defective; if covered up, the defects may not make themselves
known until after the employer has taken possession of the completed building, with all the
consequentdisruptionwhileremedialworkisundertaken.Thesecondreasonisthatsomeof
the work covered up may need measuring in order to value and certify.
Theproblemofdefectiveworkbeingcoveredcanbedealtwithintwoways.Thebestway
is to have a clause inserted in the contract which makes clear that no work may be covered
until the architect or the clerk of works has inspected it; if covered before it is inspected,
thecontractormust,withoutchargetotheemployer,uncovertheworktotheextentrequired
by the architect to carry out the necessary inspection. Preambles to bills of quantities com-
monlycontainaclausetothateffect.Thedownsideisthatthesmartcontractorwillprobably
require the architect to express satisfaction in written form with work about to be covered
on the perfectly reasonable premise that it needs the written statement to avoid the possibil-
ity that the architect might subsequently deny having had the opportunity to inspect. Many
contractors will give the architect two or three days notice that something is to be covered.
If reasonable notice is given, it will be difficult to blame the contractor if the architect does
not inspect. Alternatively, the contractor can interpret the clause strictly and refuse to cover
the work until the architect has inspected, even if there is a resultant delay to the progress of
the Works. A good compromise is to have a clause written into the contract which requires
the contractor to give the architect a reasonable period of notice, say 24 or 48 hours, before
coveringanywork.Whetherornotthearchitectinspects,inspectionmaybedeemedtohave
occurred.
Theotherwaytodealwiththeproblemisforthearchitecttoissueaninstructionrequiring
thecontractortoopenupforinspectionanyworkwhichhasbeencoveredup.Moststandard
form contracts allow for that kind of instruction (for example SBC clause 3.17). Unfortu-
nately, if the uncovered work is in accordance with the contract, the employer has to pay for
the opening up and the contractor may be entitled to loss and/or expense and an extension
of time. This method requires the architect to be fairly sure there is something wrong before
issuing the instruction.
It is usually in the contractor's interests to have work measured which is about to be
covered up, particularly if the work carried out is additional to what is described in the
bills of quantities. Therefore, where a contractor covers up work which is extra to what is
measuredwithoutnotifyingthequantitysurveyorfirst,thecontractorwillonlyhaveitselfto
blame if the quantity surveyor declines to value the supposed extra work. Indeed, it is diffi-
cult to see how the quantity surveyor can do otherwise.
