Civil Engineering nOVEMBER 2021 | Vol 29 No 10

Civil Engineering November 2021 21 – compared to $25 in example Option A. Q Q For example: If the construction period is extended by one month = 10 months due to rain = contrac- tor’s risk: – Preliminaries already paid for 3 months at $5 = $15 – Preliminaries budget balance = $30 to be paid over 7 months = $4.28/month. Q Q For example: If the construction period is also extended by one further month = 11 months due to the issue of an EoT contract instruction = employer’s risk: – Preliminaries already paid for 3 months at $5 = $15 – Preliminaries budget balance = $30 to be paid over 7 months = $ 4.28/month – Then additional Preliminaries for ‘contract instruction’ EoT = one month at $5. Q Q Adjustment Option A (fall-back percentage if no cost breakdown is provided). An amount: Q Q Which shall not be varied (10%) Q Q Varied in proportion to the contract value as compared to the contract sum (15%) Q Q Varied in proportion to the construction period as compared to the initial construction period (75%) Q Q For example: The principal agent and the contractor agree from the tender/priced bill of quantities: – Preliminaries = $100 – Fixed portion = $10 – Time related = $60 – Value related = $30 – Construction period = 6 months – A two-week delay occurs – contractor awarded ‘time’ and ‘Preliminaries’ by the principal agent – To assess the claim a daily rate must be calculated: $60 over 6 months = 131 working days = $ 0.458 per work day; then 2 weeks = 10 work days = $4.58 – Note: If finance (interest) charges apply they should be calculated as calendar days = working days + applicable weekends, public holidays and the annual builders’ break. Q Q Adjustment Option B: Q Q An amount using the detailed breakdown of Preliminaries amounts for the works (or a sec- tion thereof) for administrative and supervisory staff charges and charges for the use of construc- tion equipment in terms of the programme Q Q Note: The choice of payment and/ or adjustment option will vary with the contractor’s experience, management capability and resources Q Q Note: Option B is probably more accurate but requires a finer break- down of costs Q Q Note: The ‘fall-back’ percentage may be sufficiently accurate and simpler and faster to calculate Q Q Time calculations should be in working days to exclude weekends, public holidays and the annual builders’ break Q Q Finance and similar costs are incurred on every calendar day. An EoT award in working days must be inserted into the calendar to include costs incurred over weekends, public holidays and the annual builders’ break Q Q All calculations should exclude VAT – to be added to the final amount due. CONCLUSION The AoC must act in terms of the SfC used, but may have to interpret each event in the context of when, where and how it occurred and what action was taken by those involved to avoid, minimise, or avoid such an occurrence.  About the author Having recently retired as the CEO of the Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC), Uwe Putlitz specialises in the avoidance of construction disputes by way of lectures and technical articles dealing with aspects of contract administration arising from the use of standard-form contracts including FIDIC, GCC, JBCC or NEC to find an acceptable settlement without resorting to legal processes, where possible. Powerful Interface User-defined Beam Creep and Shrinkage Reinforcement Design Polka Engineering Software (Pty) Ltd Cell: (083) 675 5666 Email: coombes@polka.co.za