Can a contractor claim delay to preliminaries for the activity, which main part is off-site manufacture taking circa two weeks and the contractor will not do any work on site during this period of time, however these 14 days will impact the critical path. Is it countable as delay to prelims?
All compensation events are assessed in the same way as each other despite the location. So long as the event is associated with the contractor Providing the Works and it is not their fault they are entitled to be compensated.
If the delay is not a fault of the contractor then they are to assess the event in accordance with clause 63. Clause 63.3 states that if there is a delay to planned Completion the Completion Date is moved out by the same period. Clause 63.1 states the change to the Prices are assessed by the impact the event has on Defined Cost.
If the event now means they need their prelims on the contract for longer and they are deemed Defined Cost i.e. they fall under a component in the Shorter Schedule of Cost Components, then they are entitled to those costs due to this event.
NB. Not all prelims would be deemed Defined Cost, for example if they have a QS who does not work in an area that is one of the Working Areas in the contract then these costs would be deemed part of the Fee (SSCC’s 1 & clause 52.1). However, read the Contract Data part 2 for the roles listed for sections 5 & 6 of the Cost Components. I have seen in the past a contractor list roles such as a QS in there despite the contract not intending for them to be included for those components.
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Thank you for the detailed response.