Legally Speaking: Disruptive Impacts to the Construction Project
Changes in the amount of work, the schedule, the work sequence, or even the time of year in which the work is performed, can cause contractors to experience additional labor costs.
Most contractors have found themselves, at one time or another, in a project where the number of requests for information (RFI), directives and changes seem like a blizzard of paperwork, and key materials (e.g. steel) are delivered late, out of sequence, etc. In these situations, contractors know that their supervisors and managers spend a lot of time moving paper, moving workers from one part of the project to another, and standing around while waiting for answers from the designer. While this situation is common, contractors are often in a very uncertain position for claiming damages.
When a project’s work is disrupted, the contractor usually finds that his labor costs rise unexpectedly, and these losses can be the difference between a profitable project and a financial loss. Changes in the amount of work, the schedule, the work sequence, or even the time of year in which the work is performed, can cause contractors to experience additional labor costs. While this situation is common, the process of determining these damages and agreeing on a claim gives rise to many disputes.