A main contractor on a 23-unit residential development under a JCT Intermediate contract found the 52-week programme overrun at 60% completion. Two Delay Notices seeking 18-week extensions were issued in August and December 2022, but the contract administrator’s February 2023 assessments denied both and fixed practical completion at 7 March 2023. Meanwhile, payment defaults and looming lender step-in rights threatened liquidity and completion.
Counsel identified a post-contract administrator appointment raising potential conflicts, and the contractor’s lack of its own critical-path programme enabled one-sided, desk-based delay assessments. Complex procurement lead times for bespoke steel, uncoordinated structural and fire-strategy drawings, unresolved RFIs and payment defaults compounded the risk of defects liability and lender intervention.
Counsel advised producing a fully sequenced, contractor-owned programme with critical-path and float; quantifying loss and expense in a detailed cost-to-complete schedule; issuing a formal rebuttal letter to the administrator’s assessments and signalling impending adjudication; serving payment-default and notice-of-determination letters to preserve rights; engaging the lender with realistic completion projections; and, if necessary, pursuing an exit strategy to safeguard financial and reputational interests.
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