Delay analysis is a widely debated element of construction law due to the number of projects that are not completed on time, the financial implications of such late completions and the often contrasting conclusions arising from the method of analysis used to assess the effect of delays.
Specialist delay experts are normally engaged by each party to a dispute to evaluate delay by way, ideally, of a critical path analysis. However, there remains no general consensus as to which method of analysis is to be preferred and, instead, the choice is normally a consequence of the contractual, factual and legal aspects at play. These aspects are often unique to a project and, as such, add to the lack of a common approach and symmetry in selecting and undertaking a delay analysis.
Reprinted with kind permission. This article first appeared in Construction Law Review 2018, published by the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors.