NEC4- Option C Contract.
The Contractor has submitted a quotation for a compensation event notified under 60.1 by the Project Manager giving an instruction to change the scope.
CE Quotation is received which details a week long cost for ‘prolongation of works’ and allocated costs however no delay is claimed to key dates or completion.(62.2).
Is it correct that a week long prolongation to works is claimed where no time delay is claimed or is shown on the approved programe?
It may be that a particular operation(s) on the programme has been prolonged as a consequence of the compensation event without affecting the critical path for planned Completion, which could explain the inclusion of such costs.
If this is the case then alterations to the Accepted Programme should have been submitted to substantiate this assessment. It would also have been preferable to have included details to explain how the matter has been assessed.
Andrew, thank you for a quick and informative response.
To confirm, no alterations to the Accepted Programme were received with quotation.
As a follow up, if the Accepted Programme shows that the there was considerable float on the operations that prolongation has been claimed for would this in effect mean that a claim for prolongation is not valid?
If the float is not ‘owned’ by the Subcontractor, then it can be ‘used up’ within a CE assessment. This doesn’t mean that resources won’t be required for longer than planned, however, where they are specifically linked to the operation(s) in question.
For example, if, say, tunneling works are planned for 26 weeks with 6 weeks of ‘free float’ and a CE occurs which uses 4 weeks of this ‘free float’, then the CE won’t delay planned (Sectional) Completion, although any resources exclusive to tunneling works would be required for longer than planned due to the effect of the compensation event. In this instance there would be prolongation of ‘operationally linked’ preliminary resources due to the extended time they are required.