Expert Witness Blog
In When the Going Gets Tough – Analyzing Concurrent Delays, Thelen Reid’s Andrew D. Ness writes that “Proving or disproving a construction delay claim is a substantial undertaking in the best of circumstances. But the analysis of construction delays takes a major leap in difficulty when there are multiple sources or causes of delay with interrelated effects.” The construction expert witness can opine on what Ness describes as:
Multiple Activities – Multiple Delays
The level of complexity steps up considerably when the situation involves different causes of delay acting on different activities, whether at the same time or at different times during the project. For example, take a building project where the owner has delayed structural steel delivery by making late design changes. The contractor has had difficulty excavating the site in order to begin the foundations. How is the overall project delay from these two causes to be apportioned between owner and contractor? Which one is really delaying the project, or are both causes delaying completion?