Acceleration: make sure of your entitlement

摘要

When there is a dispute over the extension of time, a contractor is faced with a decision to complete the works by the delayed date, with potential exposure to liquidated damages, or electing to accelerate the works by engaging additional resources at premium overtime rates, achieving completion by the original completion date. The second option of these almost always prevails as the preferred option for most contractors. As a result of this, additional resources and costs are often expended to complete the works, which are then disputed, leaving the contractor with a liability that it is unable to offset. It is, therefore, important to understand the legal position on recovery of the cost incurred through such acceleration, and the strategy a contractor should adopt to increase his chance of recovery of such costs.