The Essential Elements of a Successful Claim - Construction Claims and Responses: Effective Writing and Presentation - page 62

to be done by the use of evidence, which, in most cases, may be obtained
from the project records.
Let us now examine how we can enhance the claim narrative in the
same way that the trial lawyer would submit evidence to the jury, in order
to attempt to prove his case. If we re-examine sections of the narrative
developed earlier in this chapter, we can see that thus far the narrative is
merely a collection of statements as follows:
The Cause
1. On 1 February 2010 the Employer ' s infrastructure contractor exca-
vated a trench across the road leading to house numbers 36, 38, 40,
42, 44 and 46. These houses may only be accessed by way of the
road that was affected by the infrastructure contractor's works.
2. The infrastructure contractor ' s work was completed and access to
the six affected houses was re-established on 9 February 2010.
Let's now see how we can substantiate the above by including evidence
into the narrative as follows:
The Cause
1. On 1 February 2010, the Contractor wrote to the Engineer to advise
him that the Employer's infrastructure contractor had excavated a
trench across the road leading to house numbers 36, 38, 40, 42, 44
and 46. 1 These houses may only be accessed by way of the road that
was affected by the infrastructure contractor's works. Photographs
taken on the same day are included herein under Appendix A and
show the extent of the infrastructure contractor's work and the
restricted access.
2. It was recorded in the site meeting held on 10 February 2010 that
the infrastructure contractor's work was completed and access to the
six affected houses was re-established on 9 February 2010. 2
1 Exhibit 1 - BBO Construction letter reference BBOC/P9921/L0347, dated 01/02/10
2 Exhibit 2 - Site Meeting Minutes, dated 10/02/10