A Practical Guide to Disruption and Productivity Loss on Construction and Engineering Projects

Disruption of a construction project is of key concern to the contractor as any delay to the project will involve the contractor in financial loss, unless those losses can be recovered from the employer. It is, however, acknowledged that disruption claims in construction are difficult to prove, usually the result of poor or inaccurate project records, but the cost of lost productivity or reduced efficiency to the contractor under these circumstances is very real.

Practical Guide to Disruption and Productivity Loss on Construction & Engineering Projects is clearly written to explain the key causes of disruption and productivity loss. Disruption claims rest on proof of causation, so it discusses the project records that are necessary to demonstrate the causes of disruption, lost productivity and reduced efficiency in detail. Quantification of a disruption claim in terms of delay to activities and the associated costs are also fully discussed. With many worked examples throughout the text, this will be an essential book for anyone either preparing or assessing a disruption and loss of productivity claims, including architects, contract administrators, project managers and quantity surveyors as well as contractors, contracts consultants and construction lawyers.

Preface vii

Acknowledgements ix

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 The aims of this book 3

1.3 The SCL Protocol 3

1.4 Conclusion 9

2 Contracts and Case Law 11

2.1 Introduction 11

2.2 Contracts 13

2.3 Case law 18

3 Planning, Programmes and Record Keeping 61

3.1 Background and history of planning 61

3.2 Planning and programming 64

3.3 Programme submission, review and acceptance 78

3.4 Programme updates and revisions 84

3.5 Progress records and other record keeping 91

4 Delay, Disruption and Causation 99

4.1 Delay 99

4.2 Disruption 107

4.3 Causation 118

5 Loss of Productivity 123

5.1 Introduction 123

5.2 Productivity and efficiency 124

5.3 Common causes of loss of efficiency 128

5.4 Methods of productivity measurement 133

6 Acceleration and Mitigation 153

6.1 Acceleration 153

6.2 Mitigation 164

Appendix 1 Definitions and Glossary 169

Appendix 2 Levels of Programmes 177

Appendix 3 SCL Protocol; Guidance Clauses on ‘Disruption’ 187

Index 191

Roger Gibson has over fifty years’ experience in construction. Beginning his career in construction contracting companies, primarily in planning roles and project management roles, he gained extensive expert witness and dispute resolution experience in a variety of construction and engineering consultants. He formed Gibson Consulting Limited in 2001, providing planning, programming and dispute resolution services, specializing in evaluating delay and extension of time claims involving concurrent delays, mitigation and disruption. Roger Gibson has been appointed as an expert on time related issues in numerous disputes and has provided both written expert evidence and oral testimony in court and before arbitration tribunals.