Definition of practicable and reason for rejection of Clause 31 programme

A range has been given within the subcontract for each Access Date, and the Key Dates have been defined as a duration from when each access is given. As a result, the subcontractor has planned the Clause 31 based on the latest dates within the range.

The contractor has rejected the programme under “the subcontractor’s plans are not practicable” as one of the planned Key Dates falls outside the Key Dates defined within the contractor’s contract with the employer (not the subcontractor’s contract).

Does this situation demonstrate fair use of the term ‘practicable’ in justifying rejection of the programme?

No. ‘Practicable’ is defined in my synonym search as “able to be done or put into practice successfully”. This seems a reasonable starting point for a definition without looking it up in dictionaries.

Just because it does not fit into the main contractor’s programme and commitments does not mean it is impracticable.