Concurrency

Mark Etherington, ACUA was pleased to be invited to speak alongside Dermot McEvoy, Partner of Eversheds Sutherland at a Whitepaper conference in Dublin in December 2018, on the subject of concurrency in construction projects.

Concurrency is a subject which is often central to a dispute when considering delays to the progress of the works and identifying "critical" delays to the completion of the works.

True concurrent delay is the occurrence of two or more delay events at the same time, one an Employer Risk Event, the other a Contractor Risk Event, and the effects of which are felt at the same time, one an Employer Risk Event, the other a Contractor Risk Event, and the effects of which are felt at the same time. True concurrent delay will be a rare occurrence.

A paper which considers the current state of play (as at December 2018), where there are delays during the currency of a project, which are likely to or have delayed the Date for Completion as then set.

See are Programme Analysis services

Reviewing your conditions

Bespoke conditions will often now provide that the contractor is not entitled to an extension of time, where there is a concurrent delay (i.e. a contractor culpable delay). This position is at odds with what is referred to as the "prevention principle", but the courts have supported the proposition that the parties are free to allocate the risk in the commercial contract.

It is therefore vitally important for you to understand the terms of the contract before you sign it.

See Risk Advisory