AN OVERVIEW OF CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS: - Clark Wilson LLP

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• All parties benefit from an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect and each party
should do what they can to engender such an atmosphere;
• While it may be initially attractive to a party to shift all of the risk in the contract
to the other party for matters such as insufficient plans and specifications and
unexpected site conditions, a contract overly skewed in favour of one party over
the other results in a higher chance of there being a dispute and hence, a
construction claim. In my opinion, a contract that protects the interests of all
parties and that does not include an overly unfair allocation of risk will result in a
decreased likelihood of construction claims;
• Ensure proper and adequate documentation for the project 2 ;
• Acknowledge and settle claims which have merit at an early stage; and
• Ensure that the contract has an adequate ADR process for dispute resolution.
IV.
NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS
Providing timely notice in writing of a dispute is essential to the success of a construction claim.
The notice should include: details of the disputed item or issue, the circumstances which gave
rise to the claim, what a party is claiming for, and an indication that further work is being
conducted under protest if further work is to be done.
The general conditions of the CCDC 2 3 specify a number of notice requirements which I will
discuss under the respective topics in this paper. I will say, at the outset, that awareness of and
compliance with the notice provisions in a contract is often crucial to the success of a claim.
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See Appendix “B” for a list of suggested document files for a construction project.
CCDC 2 refers to the CCDC 2 – 1994 form of Stipulated Price Contract between the owner and the
contractor. Please note that the Canadian Construction Documents Committee has proposed certain
changes to the CCDC 2 which will be implemented this Winter.
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