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Weather

11 replies [Last post]
Thu, 2003-07-17 09:57
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Does anyone have the definitive answer on what constitutes "Excessively Inclement Weather" in the UK?

Regards
Andy
amitchell@mjgleeson.com
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Fri, 2003-08-08 14:22
#1
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Yes. The meterological office will issue any data you require over any specific time period to confirm if the weather was "exceptional", or not.
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Thu, 2003-08-07 07:17
#2
David Bordoli
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Andy Mitchell, who started this thread, was correct in his use of the term execessive’. In the most used standard form of contract one can only get an extension of time for excessively inclement weather, not just inclement weather. It’s obvious really that it gets cold and rains or snows in the winter and sometimes (in the UK!) it gets hot too.

As Ronald suggests knowing the amount of normally inclement weather (like for instance how many days of snow lying on the ground when the temperatures are less than 4C) is the starting point and those sort of figures should be factored into activity durations and logic at the onset. Only if the weather is exceptionally inclement, that is, if more days than could normally be expected, occurred then an extension of time is possible.

This, however, isn’t the end of the storey. For instance what about an activity that was scheduled to be carried out in the summer but was delayed to the winter by actions of the client? Some would argue that any stoppages due to inclement weather (as compared to the originally planned period of carrying out the work) should be allowed.

There are also various formula around that help to say which days of the inclement weather were the ‘usual’ ones and which were the excessive ones.

Andy… maybe you might want to contact me to discuss this a bit more.
Best regards

David
dbordoli@burofour.co.uk
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Wed, 2003-07-23 09:20
#3
Paul Harris
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Inclement weather is normally defined in a contract or other agreement under which work is conducted and when the threshold for inclement weather is met work is suspended and after a period of time the work force affected by the status is sent home and in extreme cases the site may be abandoned. Work restart may also be defined.

I do not think weather defined as "Excessively Inclement Weather" is normally relevant, irrespective of what country. The issue is if the weather inclement or it is not.

It is similar to being excessively pregnant, you are either pregnant or not.

It could be therefore that the amount of time lost due to Inclement Weather is out of the scope of the contract or agreement and could be a cause for variations outside the contract. Then the terms such as "Act of God" etc come into play.

Regards
Paul E Harris
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Tue, 2003-07-22 14:56
#4
Wayne Austin
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Wet weather claims are normally based on the following criteria: potential environmental damage if work was to continue or the weather becomes a safety issue. Also if there is a demonstrated loss of production then a "wet weather claim" is justified.
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Mon, 2003-07-21 01:22
#5
Mark Lomas
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What is excessively inclement weather ? Sounds like the start of a claim ...

The definition of inclement weather should be in your contract along with the mechanisms for defining it (including rainfall records, etc.)
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Thu, 2003-07-17 11:39
#6
Ronald Winter
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Typically, you must obtain monthly rainfall totals (# days and amount) for the immediate area in question and average this over a 10-year period. The definition varies from location to location.
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Fri, 2003-08-08 04:35
#7
David Bordoli
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Nestor...

The hottest, exceptional, recent summer in the UK (I know its not hot by a lot of places standards) was in 1976 and there were claims then for delays and disruptions caused by the weather. Mainly as a result of not being able to carryout big concrete pours. The UK industry isnt reaaly geared up for producing concrete with chilled water and chilled agregates... I feel there may be some claims surfacing due to the recent spell of uncharacteristically hot UK weather.

Dictionary definitions, on the web at least are a little facile, but I think the most accurate is "(of weather of climate) physically severe". I would agree that most would immediately think of physically severe as meaning wet/cold/windy but after a little consideration I think extreme heat is also physically severe.

David
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Fri, 2003-08-08 00:04
#8
Nestor Principe
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Was there a case before that an EOT was granted due to inclement weather that was hot? I mean hotter than normal. To my knowledge, inclement weather only refer to wet season.

regards...
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Fri, 2003-08-08 12:25
#9
Tomas Rivera
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Nestor:

I live in the hottest (temperature wise, unfortunately) city (not the hottest place) in Mexico. During the worst summers temperature gets up to 125° F, usually fairly dry, but some summers have been very humid too, up to 90% RH. Normal temperature ranges from 100 to 120° F. When we are below 100° it is considered a "cool" day. You do not want to be here during the summer. We still do construction with some special measures.
We do not usually do claims on hot whether because it is part of our lives here. But in your case, besides proving that you had abnormally hot days, you should demonstrate how it affected your work.
Concrete work is a good example. For some pours we just do it very early in the morning or at evenings. We also need to shade them and keep them cool. But for critical pours, like slab work, we work at night. Our pour might start at 8:00 PM when everything is a little bit cooler, we make sure the ground supporting the slab is moist enough. We stop pouring about 3 or 4 in the morning. We finish the concrete surface, and we saw the joints and then apply a curing compound, wet the whole area and cover everything with burlap or a fabric just before we see the sun. We keep the slab wet for 6 days. There is an ACI (American Concrete Institute) standard about hot wheather concreting (I do not recall the exact name). You need to base your case on an industry or professional organization recommendations.
Another example is manual work on the outside under the sun rays. First, you need to be accustomed to this weather; and, you simply cannot work all day long in this conditions. Not mentioning the production rate of the worker, he wont be able to work properly after 11 or 12 noon outside a shade. For some work that is suitable, for example building exterior work, you work on one side of the building when it is shaded by the position of the sun, and after lets say lunch, you work on the other side of the building. Your workers need to have good health, eat well and have plenty of water to drink, and sometimes you have to give them what we call salt tablets for the heavy loss of minerals through sweating. Work under a shade, or inside a building is acceptable but dificult. You need to be a local to be able to work under this conditions. Some subcontractors start working early in the morning and work a short shift. Some work an evening shift. But the early shift 8 hours a day is normal for most people. What standard can you use to support your case? I am not sure at this very moment.
I am not sure if this enlightened your perspective. If you have questions or comments, I would be glad to answer.

Tomas Rivera
Altek System
Scheduling for high performance
construction projects
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Fri, 2003-08-08 06:01
#10
David Bordoli
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Nestor...

I think you could make a claim but you need to be able to demonstrate that it is extremely hot, something other than the normallly expected heat of a Hong Kong summer!

David
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Fri, 2003-08-08 05:39
#11
Nestor Principe
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David,

I guess you are right. I have also observed in site that production rate is very much affected by extremely hot weather and yet it is not concidered as physically severed. Am just curious if we could make it a case for an EOT claim.

Thanks for the info.

Nestor
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