As St. Petersburg construction attorneys, we are highly familiar with the common delays owners and contractors experience in their construction projects. It’s critical you understand the types of delays you’re dealing with and how to avoid them. This two-part article will give you a better understanding of construction delays and provide you with effective ways to mitigate and avoid them altogether. Visit Part 2 for the remainder of the article.
It can be a challenge to keep construction projects on schedule. Various delays such as weather, lack of labor and equipment, change orders, defects, and faulty specifications can bring a project to a stall. These delays can cost owners and contractors significantly. Experiencing a delay in a project will cause you to incur extra costs due to overhead, maintaining workers, and unused equipment—the list goes on.
Excusable Delays
Excusable delays are delays that you do not anticipate. You generally have no control over these delays. Examples of excusable delays are design errors, unanticipated weather, changes initiated by owners, and labor strikes.
Non-Excusable Delays
Non-excusable delays are the opposite of excusable delays. You usually know they could possibly happen and can control them. Examples of non-excusable delays include poor staffing, failing to repair defect work, and anticipated weather conditions.
Obtaining Compensation
Excusable delays can be divided into non-compensable and compensable. A compensable delay allows a contractor to recover costs associated with the delay. In addition, the contractor receives a time extension to finish the project. A contractor can receive time extensions for non-compensable delays, but not compensation.
Concurrent Delay
With concurrent delays, a delay is caused by both the owner and contractor at the same time and impedes the completion of the project. Extensions may be granted; however, it is possible that this type of delay may impact one party’s ability to recover for another unrelated delay if said party is responsible for the concurrent delay.
To schedule an appointment with one a St. Petersburg construction attorney, please call us at 813.579.3278 or submit our contact request form to request a consultation.
