Coronavirus impact on the contractuel finish date

Member for

16 years 3 months

one way is to modify the calendars and make the days that the project is shutdown as non working days. This means that no work will be perfomed during these days and will push the work to the right accordings.

Update the project to get a current status then make the calendar non workng days for the period of the shutdown

The dealy can be categroized as a non compensable excuseable delay meaning additional time will be granted but no additional costs becuase the delay was not caused by the owners or the contractor.

when the delay is over you may have to add ramp up time ti get your manpower, material and equipment back to the same level it was during the shutdown. Also if any procurment items were delayed due to the shutdown you will have ot add that inot the schedule. ie. delivery of steel the whole process of re-starting a steel mill or a new ordering is now in place. You lost your palce in line because your site was shut down.  

Member for

24 years 9 months

Most contracts have a 'Force Majeure' clause that allows the contract to be terminated or suspended. The coronavirus by itself is unlikely to trigger the clause, but if there is a government ordered shutdown this action typically will allow the clause to be used.

'Force Majeure' allows a complete re-negotiation if both parties so-choose or a termination (so use with care).

Otherwise, you should be able to claim non-compensateable delays for events beyond the control of the contractor.

The key is taking a close look at your contract, considering the options, and then negotiating with your client - independent / legal advice is strongly recommended.

Once you have a plan to deal with the issue some of the other ideas may be useful.  If you are shut down for a few days (eg, a 7-day quarantine period to clean the site after a case is identified on-site) the ‘holiday' option suggested by Zoltan works.  However, as we move forward substantial disruptions to supply chains are likely which would need a re-frame of the whole plan. 

For most projects its too early to tell how things will turn out so re-planning needs to wait…..  What will be invaluable is really detailed progress and actual information on a daily basis identifying what is achieved and what is held up or disrupted. This will help with a claim, or a re-negotiation or a re-plan depending on what occurs.

For more on project controls see: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-SCH.php

Member for

16 years 3 months

glad I could help 

Member for

5 years 9 months

Very clever way to see the impact of the pandemic

Thanks ALL

Update, The client has officially shut down the site until further notice

Member for

22 years 9 months

Hello Abderrahim,

Maybe you would first of all negotiate the postponing of the contractual delivery date with the client ?

Then, calculate the duration increase ratio of the activities due to the smaller availability of the resources, make a copy of this "new" project and save a new reference.

Maybe the contract should be revised?

Alexandre