The Contractor tendered for a project in competition. The project was procured under ECC Option C. The Works Information provided included details of work to be undertaken by Statutory Undertakers (Stats) within the Working Area during the project. The duration of the works undertaken by the Stats was unspecified in the Works Information e.g. one of the service diversions will be complete within 8 to 32 weeks. The Completion Date in the Contract Data is not achievable if the stats take 32 weeks to complete their works. The Contractor was unable to qualify their bid and can demonstrate that this ambiguity was queried during the tender process.
In a competitive tendering situation, the Contractor based their bid on the minimum duration of stats work (8 weeks) for obvious reasons. The question is, is the Contractor entitled to a compensation event if the statutory undertaker takes any longer than 8 weeks to complete their works? Thanks.