Delay evidence for construction adjudication, prepared to the 28-day timetable by a planner whose delay analysis has been tested in adjudication and upheld.

Time is usually decided on the programme evidence

Once a referral is served, the adjudicator has 28 days to decide, 42 if the referring party agrees, or longer if both parties agree. That leaves no room to build a delay case from scratch. The side with the clearer programme evidence tends to win on time, and delay damages, prolongation and the final account follow from there.

VERTX acts as adjudication delay expert and delay analyst on UK infrastructure disputes, preparing and challenging delay analysis under NEC, JCT, FIDIC and bespoke contracts. Every instruction is led by our director, Sumit Bhattacharya MAPM, who has spent 25+ years planning and controlling live programmes on roads, rail and HS2, bridges, nuclear, energy and utilities.

Referring or responding

Referring party — If an EoT or compensation event dispute is heading for a referral, the delay analysis should be finished before the Notice goes out. VERTX reviews the programme record, chooses a method the records can support and prepares the delay evidence for the referral, with native programme files and a narrative the adjudicator can follow.

Responding party — A referral can arrive with months of preparation behind it, while the response may have to be served within days. VERTX can have a response plan in place within 2 days of the Notice. The other side’s analysis is then tested point by point: logic, durations, progress, the baseline used, and whether the events claimed were ever on the critical path.

Legal teams — Solicitors and counsel get a planner who works to their timetable, tells them early what the programme evidence will and will not support, and turns round the adjudicator’s questions quickly.

What the adjudicator receives

A delay report that sets out the method, why it suits the records, and the result, written so that a non-programmer can follow every step.

Native programme files (Oracle Primavera P6, or as required) with a traceable audit trail from notification to impacted programme.

Critical path and float analysis, with concurrent delay identified and dealt with.

A point-by-point reply to the other side’s planning evidence.

Time figures the quantum team can use: days, periods and the events driving them.

The method follows the records

Time impact analysis, windows analysis, as-planned versus as-built and collapsed as-built, applied in line with the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol. Which one depends on what the project kept. A TIA run on a programme with no reliable progress history is easy to attack. A windows analysis built on regular, honest updates usually holds up. More on methods on the forensic delay analysis page.

Upheld in adjudication

On a c.£5m NEC3 highway scheme, the Employer referred the final account to adjudication, levied delay damages and claimed the contractor had been overpaid. The contractor’s delay analysis, prepared by our director as planning consultant, had already exposed 3 errors in the Employer’s assessment of the main utility CE, including a day count out by more than 2 weeks. The adjudicator found for the contractor on a change to the Completion Date (extension of time) and upheld its delay analysis, in a decision worth c.£0.7m. Read the case study →

Independence

Where VERTX is appointed as an independent expert, the report is prepared in line with the expert’s overriding duty to the court or tribunal (CPR Part 35 where it applies). VERTX does not act as independent expert on a matter where it has prepared or advised on the claim. In that case it acts as the party’s delay analyst instead. See expert witness and dispute support.

Timescales

CV, conflict check and fee estimate — within 2 working days of an initial enquiry.

Initial merits review — 5 to 10 working days from receipt of the programme and records.

Adjudication work — programmed to the 28-day timetable from the date of instruction.

Common questions

When should an adjudication delay expert be brought in?

If you are referring, before the Notice of Adjudication. If you are responding, as soon as a referral looks likely. Early merits advice costs far less than a programme rebuilt against a 28-day clock.

Can the analysis work from incomplete records?

Usually. Progress can be reconstructed from site diaries, photographs, instructions and correspondence, and the method is then chosen to match what those records can prove.

Which contracts do you work with?

NEC3 and NEC4, JCT, FIDIC and bespoke forms, for contractors, subcontractors and employers.

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Facing an adjudication?

Send the headline facts in confidence: parties, contract form, dispute value and key dates. For conflict checks, send party names first. VERTX will confirm conflicts, availability and fees within 2 working days.