PROCLOVE Consultancy and Engineering Pvt. Ltd

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Specialized Servics

Contractual Communication

Our Designated Representative  with the authority to issue formal instructions and respond to contractor correspondence as defined in the contract.

  • Issuing Instructions and Orders: Preparing and sending official site instructions, variations, change orders, and clarification notices to the contractor.
  • Responding to Contractor Notices: Timely and contractually accurate review and response to formal contractor submissions, such as Requests for Information (RFIs), delay notices, and extension of time (EOT) claims.
  • Drafting Formal Correspondence: Preparing or assisting the client in drafting critical correspondence that has legal or contractual implications, ensuring it is factual, professional, and references the correct contract clauses.
  • Approvals and Certification: Issuing formal correspondence for the approval of designs, materials, or shop drawings, and issuing Payment Certificates and completion certificates.

Maintaining a clear, comprehensive, and accessible audit trail of all project communications is paramount, especially in case of future disputes.

  • Document Control: Establishing and maintaining a robust document control system for all project correspondence, logs, and formal notices. This ensures all documents are properly numbered, dated, and stored.
  • Correspondence Logging: Maintaining a correspondence log database to track the status, receipt date, and response date of all critical letters and notices to ensure contractual timelines (e.g., for claims) are met.
  • Record Integrity: Ensuring all records are accurate, complete, and up-to-date, and that correspondence accurately reflects site events and decisions.
  1. Data Collection and Forensic Review
    • Gather Project Records: Systematically collect all relevant contemporaneous documents, including the Baseline Schedule, updated programs, daily logs, site diaries, meeting minutes, progress photos, weather reports, RFIs, change orders/variations, and correspondence.
    • Establish the Baseline: Verify the original (or latest approved) baseline program, ensuring its integrity and contractual compliance, as this is the standard against which all delays are measured.
  2. Delay Identification and Categorization
    • Identify Events: Create a chronological log of all delay events that occurred during the project period.
    • Categorize Delays: Determine the nature of each delay event according to the contract:
      • Excusable & Compensable (E+C): Delays caused by the Employer (e.g., late drawings, variations, site access issues). Entitles the Contractor to Time + Cost.
      • Excusable (E): Delays outside either party’s control (e.g., severe weather, Force Majeure). Entitles the Contractor to Time only (EOT).
      • Non-Excusable (NE): Delays caused by the Contractor (e.g., low productivity, late procurement). Entitles the Contractor to neither Time nor Cost.
  3. Critical Path Analysis
    • Determine the Critical Path: Use the Critical Path Method (CPM) to identify the sequence of activities that directly impacts the planned completion date. Delays to non-critical activities do not typically grant an EOT.
    • Apply Delay Analysis Methodology: Select and apply an appropriate, contractually permissible delay analysis technique to quantify the impact, such as:
      • Time Impact Analysis (TIA): A prospective method where the delay event is logically inserted into the current schedule to project the resulting delay to the completion date.
      • Windows Analysis: A retrospective method that divides the project into time periods (“windows”) to assess the critical path and delay impact within each discrete period.
      • As-Planned vs. As-Built: A simple comparison, often used for initial assessment, but usually insufficient for complex claims.
  5. Concurrent Delay Analysis
    • Address Overlaps: Analyze events where Employer-caused delays and Contractor-caused delays occur simultaneously. The consultant must apply the contract’s specific provisions to determine the contractor’s net entitlement.
  1. Contractual Review and Compliance
    • Verify Compliance: Ensure the Contractor has strictly adhered to the contract’s notice requirements (e.g., providing notice within a specified number of days). Failure to comply may invalidate the claim.
    • Apply Contract Clauses: Base the EOT assessment only on the grounds and clauses stipulated in the contract (e.g., FIDIC, NEC, JCT, etc.).
  2. Preparation of the EOT Report
    • Factual Narrative: Prepare a detailed, factual, and chronological narrative of all relevant delay events, cross-referenced to the project records.
    • Schedule Demonstration: Include graphic representations (Gantt charts, bar charts) showing the original program, the delayed program, and the application of the delay analysis methodology used.
    • Final Quantification: Clearly state the total number of days of extension granted and the contractual basis for that determination. This must isolate the days attributable to the Employer (E+C and E) from those attributable to the Contractor (NE).
  3. Formal Communication and Administration
    • Draft the EOT: Prepare the formal EOT certificate or instruction, which legally amends the Contract Completion Date.
    • Justification: Write the official letter or report to the Contractor, providing a clear, reasoned, and non-emotional justification for the time granted or rejected, referencing specific dates and contract clauses.
    • Advise the Client: Advise the Client/Employer on the findings, especially regarding compensable delays which may lead to claims for additional cost (prolongation costs).
The correspondence is vital in managing and mitigating construction claims.
  • Early Intervention: Providing timely and accurate responses to notices and early warnings from the contractor to prevent issues from escalating into formal disputes.
  • Analyzing Claims: Reviewing and responding to contractor claims (e.g., for time or cost, geological claim) by drafting counter-arguments and responses based on the contract and factual records (progress reports, site diaries, other correspondence).
  • Protecting the Client’s Position: Ensuring that all client-side correspondence is written to protect the client’s legal and contractual rights, maintaining a consistent position throughout the project.
  • Conciliation and Arbitration- Providing
We manages the outward flow of information to keep the client informed and involved.
  • Progress Reporting: Preparing periodic reports (daily, weekly, or monthly) for the client, which include summaries of key correspondence, contractual issues, and official notices exchanged.
  • Advice and Recommendations: Advising the client on the contractual implications of various correspondence received from the contractor and recommending appropriate, strategic responses and courses of action.
  • Facilitating Communication: Acting as the main point of contact to streamline communication between the client, the contractor, and other specialist consultants (e.g., structural engineers, architects).
Would you like a breakdown of the key contractual elements a consultant should focus on when drafting correspondence related to claims for an extension of time?
Conciliation is a voluntary, non-binding process where a neutral third party (the Conciliator) assists the parties in reaching a mutual settlement. We supports the client (the Employer or Contractor) by providing the technical facts needed for negotiation.
  1. Preparation and Strategy
    • Factual Analysis: Conduct a thorough, impartial investigation of the dispute, reviewing all project records (delays, cost reports, contracts, correspondence) to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the client’s position.
    • Settlement Assessment: Quantify the potential time and quantum (cost) exposure for the client, establishing a realistic range for negotiation.
    • Strategic Advice: Advise the client and their legal counsel on the key technical issues, contractual interpretations, and industry practices that will influence a settlement.
  2. Support during the Process
    • Technical Presentation: Prepare clear, concise technical summaries and presentations for the conciliator and the opposing party to explain complex issues like critical path delay analysis or loss and expense calculations.
    • Documentation Support: Organise and index the relevant documentation to support the client’s narrative, ensuring the conciliator can quickly grasp the factual basis of the claim or defence.
    • Direct Support: Attend conciliation meetings to provide immediate, on-the-spot technical and contractual clarification, helping the client respond effectively to the conciliator’s proposals or the opposing party’s arguments.
Arbitration is a more formal, quasi-judicial process where an arbitrator (or tribunal) hears evidence and delivers a legally binding award. The consultant typically acts as a Party Representative (advisor) or an Expert Witness.
  1. Consultative Role (Advisor)
    • Case Development: Work closely with the client’s legal counsel to develop the overall legal and factual strategy for the case.
    • Pleadings Review: Review and vet all formal legal submissions (Statement of Claim, Defence, Counterclaim) to ensure technical accuracy and consistency with the factual project record.
    • Discovery/Disclosure: Identify all necessary technical documents, records, and witnesses to be disclosed or requested from the opposing party.
  2. Expert Witness Role (Independent Testimony) 👨‍🔬 The consultant’s highest responsibility is to be appointed as an Expert Witness, whose duty is to the Tribunal/Arbitrator, not to the party who pays them.
    • Expert Report Drafting: Prepare a detailed, independent, and objective Expert Report covering their specialist area (e.g., Delay Analysis, Quantum/Valuation, Technical Defects). This report must clearly state the facts, assumptions, and methodology used to arrive at their conclusions.
    • Joint Report/Conferencing: Participate in expert conferencing (or “hot-tubbing”) with the opposing party’s expert to narrow the issues and present a joint statement of agreed/disagreed facts to the Tribunal.
    • Oral Testimony: Testify at the arbitration hearing, presenting their findings and withstanding cross-examinationfrom the opposing counsel. The consultant must explain complex technical concepts in a clear, accessible manner to the tribunal.
  3. Quantum and Delay Analysis
    • Forensic Scheduling: Use accepted delay analysis methods (e.g., Time Impact Analysis, Window Analysis) to prove or disprove the causal link between the events and the critical delay to the project completion date.
    • Loss and Expense Quantification: Accurately calculate the financial impact (Quantum) of variations, disruption, and prolongation for claims or defence against claims. This involves forensic accounting and applying the specific rules for loss and expense recovery under the contract.

Client correspondences

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Preparation of Extension of Time

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Extra items

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Prolongation claim/Time-related claims and their documentation

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