The notice that saves a claim

3 October 20266 min readD6 Sigma

Claims are often lost before they are argued

When a contractor is delayed by late drawings, a changed scope or denied access, the first question a manager, an adjudicator or a tribunal asks is rarely “were you delayed?”. It is “did you tell the right person, in the right form, in time?”.

FIDIC-based forms — still the base of many contracts in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf — make notice a condition of the claim. They typically allow around 28 days from becoming aware of an event to notify it, followed by a fully detailed claim within a further period. Many contracts amend these clauses. Some legal systems soften time bars; many apply them strictly. Your own contract and its governing law decide, so check them with your lawyers before relying on any rule of thumb — including this one.

Five failures we meet again and again

1. Wrong recipient or wrong form. The notice goes by e-mail to a site manager, when the contract names the Engineer or the Employer's Representative and a specific address or format.
2. A notice that says nothing. “Delays due to the Employer” names no event, no clause and no effect, so it may not count as a notice at all.
3. The clock started earlier than anyone thought. “Becoming aware” is usually the date you knew or should have known — not the date the consequences arrived.
4. Records made later. The programme was not updated, the daily reports never mention the event, and nobody can reconstruct what the crews were doing.
5. Variations instructed verbally and priced late. The instruction and the valuation drift apart until neither side can prove what was agreed.

A one-page notice-and-records routine

This is what we install first on a live project, before any claim is written. It fits on one page and it is owned by the contracts manager, not by the legal team.

1. Build a notice matrix. For each type of event: the clause, the deadline, who signs, who receives it, in which form and to which address.
2. Give the site a trigger list. A late or changed drawing, a verbal instruction, access denied, unforeseen ground or utilities, a delay caused by others, a change in quantities.
3. Apply a 48-hour internal rule. Anyone who spots a trigger tells the contracts manager within 48 hours; the notice goes out within a week — far inside the contractual limit.
4. Use a standard notice. Event, date, clause, preliminary effect on time and cost, reservation of rights, request for instruction. One page, same layout every time.
5. Keep a register. Every notice, its date, the deadline for the detailed claim and its status. Review it weekly in the project meeting.
6. Record while it happens. Update the programme every period and keep the native file; mention the event in the daily report with photographs; log labour and equipment on site.
7. Price variations at instruction. Obtain the written instruction, or confirm a verbal one in writing the same day, and agree the basis of valuation early.

What good records look like

• Dated programme versions with their data dates, so that the as-planned and the as-built can be compared.
• Daily and weekly reports that name the event, the location and the crews affected.
• A correspondence log in which every notice, instruction and reply is numbered and searchable.
• Progress photographs and resource records (labour, equipment) tied to dates and locations.
• A variation register with the instruction, the valuation, the status and the time-bar date.

None of this is difficult. It is simply easy to skip when a project is busy — which is exactly when the events that create claims happen.

If the notice is already late

Do not assume the claim is lost. Other documents may still serve as notice — minutes of meetings, correspondence, instructions that show the Employer knew — and a contract may allow relief where the Employer caused the delay or waived the requirement. Whether any of this works depends on the contract and the law, so involve your lawyers early.

D6 Sigma provides programme, technical and commercial analysis and expert-style reports. We do not give legal advice or act as counsel; legal strategy stays with your lawyers and we work alongside them. This article is general information, not advice on your contract.