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Contract Practice/Contract Administration - Completion

completion

What happens at completion?

When the project is finished, the contractor gives it to the employer. Other than agreed-upon items, which
are usually small, the contractor says the work is done and is in breach of contract if any work is not done
or is not done according to the contract documents.

A number of important papers are given over by the contractor to the client upon project completion. On
behalf of the client, the contract administrator must guarantee that certain papers are:

1. Available
2. Complete and
3. Of the necessary quality.

The documents may comprise the following:

1. Warranties and guarantees from suppliers

2. As built' drawings and relevant specifications
3. Operation and maintenance manual
4. Health and safety file
5. Schedules, operating instructions and manufacturers' details
6. Copies of statutory authority approvals and consents and
7. Testing and commissioning documentation.

Defects in the job (such as incomplete work, frost damage, or materials, items, and workmanship that do
not meet requirements) should be properly identified immediately by the contract administrator. All
corrective and completion work should subsequently be completed within the timeframe indicated, under
the direct supervision of skilled and experienced employees.

The contract administrator certify practical completion before the construction

is completed

Most of the time, the contract administrator has the freedom to sign off on a project's practical completion
even if there are still minor patent defects or small pieces of work to do. How much freedom they have will
depend on what the project is.

Sometimes the employer wants to move in so badly for business reasons that the contract administrator
certifies that the work is done even though it is clear that the work is still not done. In this case, the
contractor might want to challenge the certification if the employer's occupation would make it harder for
them to finish the remaining work quickly and well.
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Contract Practice/Contract Administration - Completion

The contract administrator won't certify on practical completion because he or

she is still looking for problems.

If there are no clear issues, the contract administrator can't refuse to sign off on practical completion just
because he or she thinks there might be hidden problems. Most of the time, the contract administrator
will have been to the works often enough to have already found any problems in hidden works. Also, if the
contract administrator gives instructions for the work to be started to dig up to look for hidden flaws, the
work won't be finished until those instructions are carried out.

The contract administrator refuses to provide practical completion

certification when only minor problems remain.

It depends on facts and levels. If the problems are so small that a reasonable person would ignore them,
then the work is almost done, even though there are some problems. But if the problems are more serious,
the work won't be done until the problems are fixed.