Clause nine of the CDM regulations obliges the client to ensure that the project is allocated sufficient time.

That allocation is to be reviewed throughout the project鈥檚 duration. The implication is that, in the event of delay, adjustments must be made to the contract period if necessary to maintain the prescribed safe working regime.

Apart from the causes of delay listed as relevant events in standard forms of contract, there are other major causes that, until now, have been regarded as being at the risk of the contractor. For contractor-borne risks there can be no extension of time. In the clamour to avoid liquidated damages the consequence is a risk-inducing condensation of what is doubtless an already optimistic programme. Clause nine has changed the emphasis of what has been too long a potentially unsafe burden on contractors. By being obliged now in law to allocate sufficient time, taking account of circumstances as they develop, the client is obliged to take account of all unforseeable time-related risks.

Richard Woolley, Quantum Support Services

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