The Contractor , throughout the course of the project, has encountered a number of problems – Sub Contractor insolvency, bad weather and late supply of materials. As a result, planned Completion is now forecast as four weeks after the Completion Date which is now 8 weeks away. This is a disaster for the Employer who has organised a grand opening and engaged an events specialist to manage the opening.
Should the Project Manager accept the programme? When should delay damages be deducted? Can they be increased to account for the potential additional costs of the events company?
To further compound the problem, the Project Manager instructs a change to the Works Information to include additional works – a ticketing booth and enhanced reception area. The ticketing booth will not delay Completion, but the enhanced reception areas will.
How are these additional works assessed in terms of their impact on the programme?
If the Employer had decided not to undertake these two additional items of work at the current time, what provisions are contained in the contract to assess the programme impact prior to being committed? Could additional work be instruction after Completion – what are the potential disadvantages of this?