FIDIC claims, from notice to determination.

A contractual claim under FIDIC is a formal notification that one party believes the other owes it time, money, or both, under specific provisions of the contract. It is not a legal dispute (not yet), and it is not litigation. It is the machinery by which the contract redistributes cost and time when something happens that the parties did not price into the tender.

This guide walks through the claims workflow: who can claim, what the notices require, what evidence supports the claim, and how the Engineer decides.

Contractor claims

Contractor claims can be for Extension of Time, additional cost, or both. Common grounds include:

• Variations instructed by the Engineer
• Delayed access to the site or parts of the site
• Late issue of Employer-side drawings or information
• Changes in laws
• Exceptional adverse conditions (edition-specific)
• Specific relief events listed in the contract
• Delay to Employer-supplied free-issue equipment or materials

The exact list of grounds depends on the FIDIC edition and any Particular Conditions.

Employer claims

The Employer can also claim against the Contractor — for delay damages (typically liquidated damages for late completion), defective work, warranty breaches, or specific contractual entitlements. Under FIDIC 2017 the Employer's claim process is broadly symmetrical to the Contractor's, with the Employer also required to give notice within a time-bar.

Notices — the gateway

The notice is the gateway to almost every claim under FIDIC. Missing the notice window can defeat an otherwise valid claim, regardless of the underlying merits.

Under FIDIC 1999 first edition, Sub-Clause 20.1 sets a 28-day time-bar for Contractor claim notices from the date the Contractor became aware (or should have become aware) of the event giving rise to the claim.

Under FIDIC 2017 second edition, the claims machinery is restructured. Contractor claims run under Sub-Clause 20.2, with its own notice time-bar. FIDIC 2017 also introduces an Advance Warning obligation (Sub-Clause 8.4), distinct from a formal claim notice.

Time claims and cost claims

Time claims are for Extension of Time to the completion milestones. Cost claims are for reimbursement of additional cost, sometimes with profit where the contract allows it. Many events give rise to both, but the entitlement must be established separately — a valid EOT does not automatically produce cost recovery, and a cost entitlement does not automatically produce time.

Supporting documentation

The strongest claims are the ones with the strongest contemporaneous records:

• Site diaries, correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs
• The baseline programme and each affected progress update
• Fragnet models of the delay event where relevant
• Cost records, timesheets and third-party invoices linked to the event
• Vendor and subcontract correspondence where interfaces are involved
• The chain of contractual notices already served on the event

These are project controls deliverables as much as QS deliverables. See FIDIC + Primavera P6 for how the schedule side of the evidence pack is prepared.

Claim evaluation and the Engineer's determination

The Engineer's role is to evaluate the claim on its merits — assessing cause, effect, entitlement and quantum. Under FIDIC 2017, the Engineer is expected to consult the parties and encourage agreement before issuing a determination. If no agreement is reached, the Engineer determines the matter and the determination is binding unless challenged through the dispute-resolution mechanism.

Contract administration — the boring part that wins claims

Most claims are won or lost long before the submission is written. A disciplined register of every notice served, every drawing revision, every RFI response, and every meeting minute — kept live throughout the project — is what makes the difference. This is a project controls responsibility as much as a QS responsibility.

Common mistakes

• Missing the notice window. The most common way claims fail. Serve the notice even if you don't yet know the full impact.
• Speculative cost claims. Percentages, allowances or estimates without supporting cost records are usually rejected.
• Confusing delay and disruption. Delay is time impact on completion. Disruption is loss of productivity. Treating them as one weakens both.
• Weak or missing baseline. Without an accepted baseline programme, EOT analysis has nothing to build on.
• Undocumented schedule changes. Every logic change, every retained-vs-override decision, and every calendar tweak should be captured in a schedule narrative.