Time is money. This is especially true in the construction industry, where you carefully schedule your projects to line up with your calendar to maximize your profits. Even those who are the most adept at scheduling their projects can face unexpected delays, though. When this happens, you might be at risk of losing out on much-needed income, sometimes costing you tens of thousands of dollars as you incur costs merely waiting for your turn to work on a project.
So, what are you to do in these situations? One option at your disposal is to file a claim against the developer or the site owner, seeking compensation for any unreasonable delay that’s occurred. You can also seek additional time to complete your portion of the project, which can save you money.
How to successfully prove your delay claim
If you want to succeed with one of these claims, you’re going to need evidence to support your position. While this may include showing that the delay is attributable to something like change orders, a defective design plan, delay in acquiring permit, or lack of access to the construction site, you’ll have to go further than that.
Here is some other evidence that you can present to support your claim:
- Showing that the delay affects the project’s critical path: In most instances, you’ll only be able to obtain compensation and additional time for a delay if you can show that the critical path to the project’s completion was affected. The critical path pertains to portions of the chain in the project’s completion that are contingent on the completion of other portions of the project. For example, dry wall cannot be painted until it’s installed. Also, drywall can’t be installed until insulation work is completed. Therefore, a delay in installing insulation can negatively impact painters who literally cannot complete their work until the drywall is installed.
- Demonstrating the exact cause of the delay: Keep in mind that you’re going to have to file your claim against somebody. If you can’t pin down the cause of the delay, it’s going to be hard to figure out who to hold accountable. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure that you closely analyze the facts of your case and ask probing questions to get to the bottom of the matter.
- Illustrating your losses: In order to recover compensation for the project’s delay, you’ll have to quantify your losses. So, as you’re assessing whether to take legal action, you’ll want to consider whether you can show the additional expenses that you’ve incurred waiting for the project to be ready for your company’s work. Turning to your payroll, receipts, and historical earnings may help you here.
Just remember that you’ll need to be diligent as you analyze your case. You need to make sure that you have a command of the facts and that you know how to present your arguments persuasively in light of the law.
Do you need help doing that?
If so, you can turn to an experienced legal professional who is well-versed in construction law. One of these attorneys can help you analyze your situation and provide guidance on how to best achieve the outcome that you desire. Then, if the decision is made to move forward with litigation, a strong legal team can give you the aggressive advocacy needed to protect your interests.
If that kind of representation sounds like something that you want, please consider reaching out to a law firm that you think is right for you to discuss your circumstances further.
