Extension of time: the notice comes first
An extension of time is worth real money, because it moves the completion date and keeps penalties off the contractor. But it lives or dies on a notice given in time and records kept as the delay happened.
QScope Team · 24 February 2026 · 6 min read
An extension of time does one thing that matters commercially. It moves the date the contractor has to finish by, which keeps penalties for late completion off its account. That is why the mechanism is worth taking seriously, and why the paperwork around it repays the effort.
The notice is the gateway
On a JBCC contract the process starts with the contractor giving notice of a delay within the period the contract allows. The notice is not a formality to be caught up on later. It is the gateway, and a late notice weakens or forfeits the claim regardless of how real the delay was.
- Notify in time. Flag the delaying event within the contractual window, in writing.
- Identify the cause. Say what caused the delay and why it is one the contract lets time be extended for.
- Then substantiate. Follow with the detail and the records that show the effect on completion.
Records prove the effect
A notice opens the claim. Records win it. The contractor has to show not just that an event happened but that it actually pushed the completion date, and that is a matter of the programme and the day to day records. Progress records, correspondence and the marked up programme are what turn an asserted delay into a measured one.
The weakness in most claims is not the event, it is the causation. An event that delayed work already behind for other reasons does not automatically move completion, and without records the contractor cannot show which part of the slippage the event is responsible for.
Time and money are separate
An extension of time protects the contractor from penalties. It does not by itself pay for the cost of being on site longer. Whether the contractor also recovers the extra cost depends on the cause of the delay and the contract, and it is a separate assessment from the time award. Keep the two questions apart, because an extension granted does not guarantee the prolongation cost that goes with it.
Calendar days again
As with everything on a South African contract, the notice periods and the extension itself are counted in calendar days. Weekends and public holidays are inside the count, so a notice window that feels comfortable in working days is shorter than it looks.
The habit
Log delay events the day they occur, issue the notice inside the window without waiting for certainty about the full effect, and keep the programme and progress records current. An extension claim assembled after the fact is a claim starting from behind.
QScope tracks each delay event against the notice that flagged it and the records behind it, so the extension of time claim is built as the job runs.