The Essential Elements of a Successful Claim - Construction Claims and Responses: Effective Writing and Presentation - page 50

1. The Employer has entered into a contract with BBO Construction to
construct 85 two-storey, detached dwellings. The contract is the FIDIC
Contract for Building and Engineering Works designed by the Employer
1999 Edition .
2. The Employer has also engaged a separate contractor to construct
the infrastructure for the development which includes mains drainage,
electricity distribution, telephone ducting, roads, pavements and public
landscaping.
3. The two contracts are running concurrently and the Engineer is the
same party for both contracts.
4. On 1 February 2010, the infrastructure contractor excavated a trench
for a road crossing across the road leading to six of the dwellings and
prevented the Contractor from accessing these dwellings.
5. The infrastructure contractor completed the road crossing and back-
fi lled the trench on 9 February 2010.
6. The Contractor considers that the lack of access caused by the road
crossing delayed his work to the six dwellings and that this delay had
a direct effect on the completion of the project and, consequently, he
is entitled to an extension of time for this delay.
Cause
Very simply put, the Cause is the occurrence of the event that has given
rise to the claim. Typically, this could be:
1. Late or restricted access to the site.
2. The issue of an instruction to carry out additional work.
3. The issue of a revised drawing.
4. Late issue of instructions or information.
5. The issue of an instruction to suspend the works.
6. The issue of an instruction to accelerate the works.
7. Exceptionally adverse climatic conditions.
8. Changes in government legislation.
9. Force Majeure.
10. Delay caused by the Employer or other parties engaged by the
Employer.
11. An act of prevention by the Employer, his agents or contractors.
The Cause is generally a statement of fact that, provided that adequate
substantiation is submitted, is usually fairly easily established by way
of the project records. In our example, the Cause is quite simply the
fact that the infrastructure contractor excavated the trench for the road
crossing. In a typical claim narrative, the Cause could be explained as
follows: