THE ESSENTIAL

ELEMENTS OF A
SUCCESSFUL
CLAIM AND HOW
TO WRITE AN
EFFECTIVE
NARRATIVE

1
01
Essential
Elements of a
Successful
Claim

2
INTRODUCTION
The object of a claim is to demonstrate that on the balance of probability, the
claimant is entitled to compensation and the amount of such compensation. In
the case of a construction claim, the compensation would more than likely
consist of additional time, additional payment or both. The claim must be
demonstrated, substantiated and justified so as to achieve the desired result.
The elements that are absolutely essential to include in a claim or
determination are as follows:

1. Cause

2. Effect

3. Entitlement

4. Substantiation

It may help to remember these essentials by use of the acronym CEES.

It should definitely be borne in mind that many worthwhile claims have come
to nothing because these essentials have not been given due recognition by
the claimant.

THE CAUSE
Very simply put, the Cause is the occurrence of the event, which has given rise
to the claim. Typically, this could be:

1. Late or restricted access to the site.

2. The issue of an instruction to carry out additional work.

3. The issue of a revised drawing.

4. Late issue of instructions or information.

5. The issue of an instruction to suspend the works.

6. The issue of an instruction to accelerate the works.

7. Exceptionally adverse climatic conditions.

8. Changes in government legislation.

9. Force Majeure

10. Delay caused by the Employer or other parties engaged by the Employer.

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11. An act of prevention by the Employer, his agents or contractors.

The Cause is generally a statement of fact, which if adequate substantiation is

provided, is usually fairly easily established by way of the project records.

THE EFFECT
For a claim to succeed, it will be necessary to demonstrate that the effect on
which the claimed compensation is based, was in fact caused by the event by
linking the cause with the effect. The Effect of the event is usually a little more
complicated to establish and to link directly to the cause, because this is often
a subjective matter, which requires to be both demonstrated and
substantiated. The following are a few examples of what must be considered
when examining the effect of an event for entitlement to an extension of time
or additional payment:

1. Late or restricted access to the site.

a. What effect will this have on the programme?

b. Will this give rise to entitlement to an extension of time?

c. Will this give rise to entitlement for additional payment for

prolongation?

d. Will this require acceleration measures and thus, the entitlement to

claim for additional payment for providing such measures?

2. The issue of an instruction to carry out additional work.

a. What effect has the timing of the instruction had on the programme?

b. What effect will the additional work have on the programme?

c. Will the implementation of this instruction require rework, or will it result

in abortive work having been carried out?

d. How will the payment for the additional work and any abortive work or
rework be claimed?

e. Will the instruction give rise to entitlement to an extension of time?

f. Will this give rise to entitlement for additional costs for prolongation in
addition to payment for the additional work?

3. The late issue of instructions or information.

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 a. What effect will the timing of the issue of the instruction or information
have on the programme?

b. Will the late timing of the instruction or information result in abortive

work, or the requirement to carry out rework?

c. Will this give rise to entitlement to an extension of time?

d. Will this give rise to entitlement to prolongation costs?

e. Are there requirements to mitigate any delay and if so, would mitigation
measures give rise to entitlement to additional payment?

f. Will the late issue of the instruction or information result in idle or down
time of resources?

4. Exceptionally adverse climatic conditions.

a. Can the climatic conditions be justified as being exceptionally adverse?

b. What effect did the conditions have on the programme?

c. Will this give rise to entitlement to an extension of time?

d. Is there an entitlement to claim additional prolongation costs for any

delay for such events?

You will hopefully notice that all the above considerations have been written in
the present tense. This is because the time to start considering the effects of
the cause is immediately when there is knowledge of the event. This is the
point in time that the contract administration procedures should commence to
ensure that notices are sent, records are kept and preparations are made to
submit the particulars of the claim if, in fact, subsequent investigation shows
that there is an entitlement to claim for the identified event.

ENTITLEMENT
A demonstration of the cause and effect of an event will not automatically
contain entitlement to an extension of time and/or additional payment. The
claim will either flow from a remedy contained in the contract conditions, or
from a breach of the contract giving rise to damages under the law and could
possibly fall under both categories. It is of vital importance to set out precisely
on what contractual basis the claim is made.

A substantial part of any contract is the allocation of risk between the parties
and it is therefore necessary to demonstrate that the event on which the claim

5
is based is something that the contract, or the law to which the contract is
subject, provides entitlement to the claimant. It is therefore, imperative to state
precisely on what contractual basis the claim is founded. The first place to
check for entitlement is the Contract.

It is sometimes the case that entitlement is not so clear-cut. In such cases,

persuasive arguments including expert opinion and case law may have to be
brought into play in order to sway the balance. On the other hand, there are
some events that would fall under more than one clause that would provide
entitlement. In such cases, it would be better to examine and include all such
provisions within the claim submission. The latter may be a ‘belt and braces’
approach, but the small amount of additional time taken to strengthen the case
can be worthwhile, especially if the reviewer subsequently finds flaws in one of
the reasons put forward to establish entitlement.

Bearing in mind the two principles that it is incumbent on the claimant to prove
the merits of the case and that we have to do everything we can to make the
reviewer’s job as easy as possible, the claim submission must contain a clear
demonstration of the claimant’s entitlement by reference to the Contract.

SUBSTANTIATION
The last essential element of the claim is substantiation or, in other words,
proving to a reasonable level that all statements made, points relied on,
calculations submitted and the like are correct. Imagine a prosecution lawyer
during a murder trial standing up in court and making a simple statement to
the effect that the defendant is guilty of the crime of which he is accused
because he was at the location of the crime when it took place and that he
didn’t like the victim very much. Is it likely that the jury would take this at face
value and convict the accused on the basis of such a statement, or is it more
likely that they would need some sort of proof of the accusations? The answer
is fairly obvious and the lawyer will consequently take his time to substantiate
each and every one of his assertions by reference to the evidence that he has
gathered to enable him to prove his case.

In order to prove or substantiate the events and circumstances on which the

claim is based, it is essential that a claim submission contains similar levels of
evidence as the lawyer would use in his trial. This also has to be done by the
use of evidence, which, in most cases, may be obtained from the project
records.

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CONCLUSION
For a claim to succeed, it is essential to include the following:

1. An examination of the cause;

2. And examination of the effect, with a linkage to the cause;

3. A demonstration of entitlement under the contract or at law;

4. Substantiation of all the above.

5. Remember CEES.

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02
How to Write
an Effective
Claim Narrative

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INTRODUCTION
One of the most common challenges that we, as claims practitioners, often
face is how to write an effective claim narrative. Even experienced claims
practitioners often seem to have difficulty explaining themselves clearly on
paper.

So, this paper explains what you can do to ensure that your claim narrative is
properly understood to ensure that it has the maximum chance of helping your
claim to be resolved quickly and in your favour.

Whilst this paper is related to claims narrative writing, much of the advice given
is also relevant to the writing of responses, decisions, reports and letters.

The purpose of a claim is to demonstrate to the respondent that a) the

claimant has entitlement to compensation and b) demonstrate the amount of
the compensation.

If:

• the claim cannot be understood by the reader;

• the reader becomes confused; and/or

• the reader becomes bored and loses concentration on the matters at hand

it’s unlikely that you will successfully demonstrate your entitlement. Moreover,
it’s very likely that the person reviewing the claim, will come back to you with
queries, requests for clarification and additional information which will only
serve to delay things.

In order to avoid this, we need ensure that our narratives ‘lead the reader by
the hand’ through the story of our claim and take him or her to the conclusion
that we wish them to reach. We must provide a full understanding of all matters
discussed along the way. This paper will provide advice on how to achieve
this.

WHO IS THE CLAIM ADDRESSED TO?

One of the most important things to bear in mind is that you must assume that
the reader has no prior knowledge of the claim, the matters relating to the
claim or even the project itself and explain all matters in such a way that such a
person will gain a complete understanding. You could take a leaf out of the
lawyer’s hand book here, whereby lawyers are taught to write letters as if they
will be read out in court in two years’ time and not to the person to whom the

9
letter is addressed at the time of writing. True, your claim may be reviewed by
your opposite number on the project who has a good understanding of the
events that have taken place, but we cannot be certain that the matter will be
resolved at that level and in any case, even such a person may not have full
understanding of all the details that you need to get across.

TELLING THE STORY

Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end and the same is true of
a claim narrative. The purpose of the narrative is to firstly set the scene by
explaining the background of the project and the general circumstances; this
could be regarded as the beginning. In this part of the claim, we should explain
things such as the parties to the contract, the nature of the project, the form of
contract, the commencement and completion dates, the contract price and
brief detail of the events leading to the claim and the nature of the claim itself.

The middle of the story is where the action takes place and in the case of a
claim narrative, this is where we explain the events that have occurred and
discuss cause, effect and entitlement. If the narrative author has done a good
job, this will in turn lead to an ending which will be a logical conclusion in
which the entitlement and quantum is summarised. As in all good novels, if this
premise is adhered to, the heroes will hopefully live happily ever after.

USE OF CHRONOLOGIES
Chronologies are a really effective way of relating a “cause” narrative or
explaining what has happened that has given rise to the claim. Basically, a
chronology is telling the story of what happened, as you may have already
guessed, in chronological order. The following is an example of a chronology
that could be used to explain the events leading to a claim:

1. The Contractor’s programme showed that the Contractor planned to

start the fabrication of the reinforcement for the machine bases on 1
February 2017.

2. On 7 January 2017, the Contractor wrote to the Engineer to advise him

that the bar bending schedules for the machine bases had not been
issued and were required no later than 31 January 2017.

3. On 24 January 2017, the Contractor had not received the bar bending
schedules and again wrote to the Engineer to advise that if these were
not received by 31 January 2017, the work to the machine bases would
be delayed.

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 4. On 1 February 2017, the Contractor wrote to advise the Engineer that
the bar bending schedules for the machine bases had not been issued
and that consequently, resources were standing idle and the work was
being delayed.

5. The Engineer issued the bar bending schedules on 14 February 2017.

The above tells the story neatly and succinctly, but could it be improved upon?

THE USE OF QUOTATIONS

The use of quotations in a narrative is a very useful tool, which adds credibility
to, and helps to substantiate statements made within, the narrative. Extracts of
the Contract may be reproduced to good effect, as may extracts from
correspondence and other project records. It is important here to identify
quotations properly by using quotation marks. I like to put quotations in italics
for good measure. When using quotation marks, the words contained between
the marks should be the exact words of the passage being quoted. If incorrect
grammar, punctuation or spelling are included in the passage, then these
should also be reproduced in the quotation. If it is necessary to add clarity or
an explanation in the middle of a quotation, such an explanation should be
included in brackets [thus].

It is sometimes a good idea to reproduce whole clauses from the Contract or

other documents within the narrative so that the reviewer is made aware of the
provisions. In certain cases, however, either the clause is complicated and
needs further explanation, or certain parts of the clause are irrelevant to the
point being made. In such cases, it may be necessary either to offer an
explanation in simple language as to the meaning of the clause, or to reduce
the clause into something which provides a clearer understanding of the issue
in question. If we take FIDIC Sub-Clause 8.4 (Extension of Time for Completion)
as an example, here is the full reproduction:

‘The Contractor shall be entitled subject to Sub-Clause 20.1 [Contractor’s

Claims] to an extension of the Time for Completion if and to the extent that
completion for the purposes of Sub-Clause 10.1 [Taking Over of the Works and
Sections] is or will be delayed by any of the following causes:

a. a Variation (unless an adjustment to the Time for Completion has been

agreed under Sub-Clause 13.3 [Variation Procedure]) or other substantial
change in the quantity of an item of work included in the Contract,

b. a cause of delay giving an entitlement to extension of time under a Sub-

Clause of these Conditions,

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c. exceptionally adverse climatic conditions,

d. Unforeseeable shortages in the availability of personnel or Goods caused

by epidemic or governmental actions, or

e. any delay, impediment or prevention caused by or attributable to the

Employer, the Employer’s Personnel, or the Employer’s other contractors
on the Site.

If the Contractor considers himself to be entitled to an extension of the Time

for Completion, the Contractor shall give notice to the Engineer in accordance
with Sub-Clause 20.1 [Contractor’s Claims]. When determining each extension
of time under Sub-Clause 20.1, the Engineer shall review previous
determinations and may increase, but shall not decrease, the total extension of
time.’

Let us assume that the claimant is preparing an extension of time claim due to
adverse climatic conditions. Firstly, the entire clause is quite a lot for the
reviewer to digest and secondly, it contains quite a lot of information which is
irrelevant to the specific subject of the climatic conditions. Here is how it could
be reproduced in such a manner to deal effectively with the issue in question:

‘The Contractor shall be entitled … to an extension of the Time for

Completion if and to the extent that completion … is or will be delayed by
… exceptionally adverse climatic conditions …

If the Contractor considers himself to be entitled to an extension of the

Time for Completion, the Contractor shall give notice to the Engineer …
When determining each extension of time … the Engineer shall review
previous determinations and may increase, but shall not decrease, the
total extension of time.’

Where parts of the clause are omitted from quotations, the reader’s attention
should be drawn to this by the inclusion of ‘…’ to indicate the missing passage.
If adopting this method of dealing with extracts from the Contract, care should
be taken that the meaning is not changed by such omissions.

Sometimes it is more appropriate to include sections from the clause into the
narrative in order to emphasise the meaning or to ensure that the exact
wording is reproduced to avoid ambiguity. Here is an example based upon the
same sub-clause from FIDIC:

Sub-Clause 8.4 (Extension of Time for Completion) provides that ‘the

Contractor shall be entitled’ to an extension of time if the completion is

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 delayed due to ‘exceptionally adverse climatic conditions’. If such an event
occurs, the Contractor is obliged to ‘give notice to the Engineer in
accordance with Sub-Clause 20.1 [Contractor’s Claims]’ and the Engineer
is obliged to determine the extension of time.

The above example is succinct, easily understood, carries the authority of the
contract and is unambiguous. Now let’s go back to our chronology and see
how it can be improved by the use of quotations.

1. The Contractor’s programme showed that the Contractor planned to

start the fabrication of the reinforcement for the machine bases on 1
February 2017.

2. On 7 January 2017, the Contractor wrote to the Engineer to advise ‘As

you are aware, the fabrication of the reinforcement for the machine
bases is programme to commence on 1 February 2017. As of the date
of this letter we have not received the bar bending schedules for these
works and we would be grateful if you would ensure that these are
issued no later than 31 January 2017,’.

3. On 24 January 2017, the Contractor had not received the bar bending
schedules and again wrote to the Engineer to advise that ’Further to
our letter of 7 January 2017, in which we requested the issue of the bar
bending schedules for the machine bases, we wish to remind you that
we still have not received the schedules and we wish to advise you
that if we do not receive the schedules by the 31 January 2017, the
fabrication will be delayed and our bar-bending resources will be
standing idle’.

4. On 1 February 2017, the Contractor wrote to advise the Engineer as

follows:

a. ‘Further to our letters of 7 and 24 January 2017 concerning the bar

bending schedules for the machine bases, we wish to give notice that we
have still not received the schedules and as of today, the work is being
delayed and our bar-bending resources are standing idle. We request that
the schedules are issued as a matter of urgency in order to minimise delay
to the project and the incurrence of cost’.

5. The Engineer issued the bar bending schedules on 14 February 2017.

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EXPLANATIONS, SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSIONS
Many people do a good job of presenting the bare facts, but fail to explain
what the facts actually mean in relation to the claim and do not lead the
reviewer to the desired conclusion. This is very dangerous, because if the
claim does not clearly tell the reviewer what the outcome of the claim should
be, the reviewer may very well reach a totally different conclusion. You must
NEVER let the reader draw their own conclusions. One way in which this may
be achieved is by including explanations, summaries and conclusions within
the narrative. Simply put, we should state the facts, make sure that they can be
understood, summarise them and then tell the reader what they actually mean
in terms of the claim and the conclusion that must be drawn.

Our example is uncomplicated and should be easily understood by a reader,

but let’s see how we can enhance the narrative by adding some explanations,
summarising the events and bringing the matter to a conclusion. In order to
illustrate this, the enhancements to the previous narrative have been
underlined.

1. The Contractor’s programme showed that the Contractor planned to

start the fabrication of the reinforcement for the machine bases on 1
February 2017. The Engineer had approved the programme and was
thus aware when the Contractor required all the information to start
these works and would also be aware of the consequences of not
providing the information on time.

2. On 7 January 2017, the Contractor wrote to the Engineer to advise ‘As

you are aware, the fabrication of the reinforcement for the machine
bases is programmed to commence on 1 February 2017. As of the date
of this letter we have not received the bar bending schedules for these
works and we would be grateful if you would ensure that these are
issued no later than 31 January 2017.’ Consequently, despite the
Engineer already being aware of the date that his schedules were
required by the Contractor, the Contractor had brought the matter to
the Engineer’s attention 25 days before the schedules were required.

3. On 24 January 2017, the Contractor had not received the bar bending
schedules and wrote to the Engineer to advise that ’Further to our
letter of 7 January 2017, in which we requested the issue of the bar
bending schedules for the machine bases, we wish to remind you that
we still have not received the schedules and we wish to advise you
that if we do not receive the schedules by the 31 January 2017, the
fabrication will be delayed and our bar-bending resources will be

14
 standing idle’. Thus, the Contractor had not only sent a second
reminder, but had also advised the Engineer of the consequences of
not receiving the information on time.

4. On 1 February 2017, the Contractor wrote to advise the Engineer as

follows:

a. ‘Further to our letters of 7 and 24 January 2017 concerning the

bar bending schedules for the machine bases, we wish to give
notice that we have still not received the schedules and as of today,
the work is being delayed bar-bending resources are standing
idle. We request that the schedules are issued as a matter of
urgency in order to minimise delay to the project and the
incurrence of cost’.

5. The above recorded the fact that the Engineer had not issued the bar
bending schedules by the date that the Contractor required them and
also advised the Engineer that the Contractor was suffering delay and
incurring cost.

6. The Engineer issued the bar bending schedules on 14 February 2017,

which was 14-days later than the Contractor required them in order not
to suffer delay to the fabrication of the reinforcement.

7. The above events may be summarised as follows:

a. The Contractor required that the bar bending schedules be issued

no later than 31 January 2017, in order that the fabrication of the
reinforcement could be started by the programmed date of 1
February 2017;

b. The Contractor requested the Engineer to ensure that the

schedules were issued on time on 7 and 24 January 2017, these
dates being 25 and 8 days prior to the date when the information
was required.

c. The Engineer issued the bar bending schedules on 14 February

2017, some 14-days (31 January to 14 February 2017) later than the
Contractor required them and some 38 days (7 January to 14
February 2017) after the Contractor’s first request.

8. In conclusion therefore, the Engineer’s failure to issue the bar bending

schedules for the machine bases by the programmed date delayed the
fabrication of the reinforcement by 13 days from 1 to 14 February 2017

15
 and caused the Contractor to incur costs through having his
reinforcement fabrication resources standing idle for that period.

I think that you will agree that this is a much stronger narrative and leaves the
reader in no doubt as to the effect of the events, the outcome of the matter
and the conclusion that must be drawn.

KEEPING THINGS SIMPLE

The use of legalese, Latin tags, obscure or infrequently used words and
complicated language can have a detrimental effect on a proper
understanding of a narrative.

This is particularly relevant if some of the people involved in the issue do not
have the language in which the document is written as a first language. Claims
‘experts’ sometimes have a tendency to bolster up their arguments, or possibly
to attempt to impress the reviewer with their knowledge, by frequent use of
complicated language and legalese. Ask yourself if this will have the desired
effect on a resident engineer who has spent his professional career on site,
amongst mud, steel and concrete rather than in a courtroom. The use of
‘impressive-sounding’ language will never replace a well-presented, easily-
understood ‘story’ that deals with and explains the facts in a logical manner. It
is therefore better to use the most simple and direct language possible to
provide a proper understanding of the points being made.

SUPERFLUOUS AND IRRELEVANT INFORMATION

Whilst it is essential that the claim should be a stand-alone document which
provides complete understanding, many claims actually contain too much
information.

I get the distinct impression that those who compile claims containing
information overload, assume that the reviewer will happily sort through it all to
find out what is relevant. This of course is simply not the case.

Very often, the person who is tasked with compiling the claim will have been
presented with, or will have gathered a vast amount of information, some of
which is relevant and some of which is not. Part of a good claim practitioner’s
skills is to be able to review such information and to decide what is relevant
and is to be used and what is not relevant and should be discarded. It is very
tempting to attempt to include all the available information within a narrative,
but any discussion of matters that do not have a direct bearing on the issue in
question should be avoided.

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The inclusion of irrelevant information serves no purpose at all and will not
help to communicate a clear understanding of the matters being discussed. In
fact, the reverse is true and a reviewer could very well suffer from information
overload and become confused. Narratives should therefore be as concise as
possible whilst still properly illustrating and explaining the points being made.

Always remember that quantity is never a substitute for quality.

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

I have just one piece of advice with regard to the use of abbreviations and
acronyms and that is DO NOT USE THEM. Possibly people intimately involved
on a project would understand that when an abbreviation such as ‘BL2’ is used
on the project, it means ‘Basement Level 2’, but it is unlikely that an outside
party would understand the meaning and if a reader does not understand or
become confused, then your narrative is poor. Abbreviations and acronyms
should be avoided unless they are in common usage within the industry and
would be understood by anyone not familiar with the project.

Similarly, the temptation to define an abbreviation the first time it is used in the
narrative, for example ‘Basement Level 2 hereinafter referred to as “BL2”’
should also be resisted because this relies on the reader reading the whole
narrative from the beginning and then being obliged to remember what each
abbreviation actually means. The small amount of extra effort to type words
out in full is definitely worthwhile as it will avoid both confusion and
annoyance.

WHO ARE ‘THEY’, ‘HIM’ AND ‘IT’?

Ambiguities can often be created by the use of such words as ‘them’, ‘they’,
‘him’ and ‘it’ when referring to the parties, organisations or people.
Examination of legal and contractual documents will reveal that the parties are
usually referred to as ‘the Claimant’, ‘the Respondent’, ‘the Employer’, ‘the
Contractor’, ‘the Engineer’ or suchlike. This is to ensure that there is absolutely
no ambiguity or confusion as to which party is being referred to. This may
mean that a little more typing is necessary, but the small amount of extra effort
is worth it if confusion or ambiguity is to be avoided and if it means that the
reviewer will easily and correctly understand the narrative. If you don't like
using contractual names such as ‘the Employer’, ‘the Contractor’, or ‘the
Engineer’, refer to each party by name.

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CALCULATIONS IN THE NARRATIVE
Just as we should not let the reader draw their own conclusions, we must also
not ask the reader to work things out for themselves. Did you notice that in our
example used to illustrate explanations, summaries and conclusions that the
narrative explained each calculation as follows?

The Engineer issued the bar bending schedules on 14 February 2017, some
14-days (31 January to 14 February 2017) later than the Contractor
required them and some 38 days (7 January to 14 February 2017) after
the Contractor’s first request.

Granted, this is a fairly easily understood matter, but don't forget that part of a
respondents’ job is to verify the claim’s correctness, so calculations should be
clearly explained to enable them to do so easily. Another example would be:

Time for Completion with the delay impacted: 27 May 2017

Time for Completion before the delay: 12 June 2017

Number of days’ delay: 16 days

NAMING OF CLAUSES
To make the reader’s job easier, the clauses should be named as well as
referring to them by number, for example, Sub-Cause 20.1 (Contractor’s
Claims). This ensures that a reader who is unfamiliar with the contract will have
a better chance of understanding without constantly having to refer to the
contract. In order to emphasise the importance of this, I wish to add that,
despite the fact that I have been using the FIDIC contracts for many years,
have written a book about them and deliver training courses on FIDIC, I still
can’t remember each and every clause by number.

LONG REFERENCES IN THE NARRATIVE

The inclusion of long document references in a narrative breaks the flow and
becomes annoying for the reader. Ask yourself if the reader is actually going to
read the full reference unless he or she is going to look up the document at
the time of reading. Check the following:

On 24 January 2017, the Contractor has not received the bar bending
schedules and wrote letter reference P1234/JCG/DWP/Let/CW/5678/17
to the Engineer to advise that …

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Use of the automatic ‘footnotes’ function in Microsoft Word ensures that a
narrative is not interrupted by constant references to documents and the
footnotes will always appear on the same page as the inserted cross-
references as follows:

On 24 January 2017, the Contractor has not received the bar bending
schedules and wrote to the Engineer to advise that … 1.

REFERENCES TO OTHER PARTS OF THE NARRATIVE

Narrative authors often try to make their job easier by referring to other parts
of the narrative, for example,

As previously explained in Section 3, the Engineer delayed the Contractor

and caused the Contractor to incur costs.

This will probably require the reader refer back to Section 3 and try to find
how, why and by how much the ‘Engineer delayed the Contractor and caused
the Contractor to incur costs’, so making the reader refer to other parts of the
narrative to understand what you are saying is not good practice. Very often a
short explanation or even cutting and pasting information from the previous
section will achieve this with little effort, as is illustrated below.

As previously explained in Section 3 herein, the Engineer’s failure to issue

the bar bending schedules for the machine bases by the programmed date
delayed the fabrication of the reinforcement by 13 days from 1 to 14
February 2017 and caused the Contractor to incur costs through having
his reinforcement fabrication resources standing idle for that period.

PROOF READING
Finally, the author of a narrative obviously has detailed knowledge of the
project and the circumstances surrounding the issues that are the subject of
the claim; in fact, he may have lived and breathed the project for many months.
It is for this reason that such a person may easily assume, even inadvertently,
that a reviewer has the same depth of knowledge as himself. Consequently,
and even with the best intentions, the author may fail to make things crystal
clear and miss out minor but important explanatory details. When the narrative
is completed it is therefore good practice to have someone review the
document and if this person has no knowledge of the circumstances, then that
is a distinct advantage. The reviewer should put themselves in the place of the

1 Exhibit 1; Johnson Construction Group letter reference P1234/JCG/DWP/Let/CW/5678/17, dated 24/01/17

19
person who will eventually have the task of reviewing the document and
advise the author on unclear passages, incorrect grammar, unsubstantiated
statements, etc. The reviewer should also refer to any programmes,
calculations and so on that are referenced in the document to ensure that the
narrative has incorporated the correct information, that explanations contained
in the narrative are easily followed and that any cross-references to other
documents are correct. It should also go without saying that any calculations
should be mathematically checked.

It may be tempting to proof read a document that you have prepared yourself.
This is not good practice because it is normal when proof reading your own
work, to read what you think that you have written and not what you have
actually written. A review by another person will usually pick up mistakes that
you would not have identified when proof reading your own work.

CONCLUSION
Unsubstantiated and incomplete claims, otherwise known as inadequately
expressed claims, are one of the number one causes of construction disputes
which lead to time consuming and costly arbitration. If you follow the guidance
contained in this paper and of course, if your claim is a valid one in the first
place, you will have a very good chance of having your claim accepted in a
timely manner without having to raise a dispute.

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