Extensions of time

Extensions of time, with the reasoning kept

An award is a number of weeks. What makes it defensible two years later is the sentence explaining how the number was reached, and that sentence is almost never written down.

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Time and money are different entitlements

A relevant event under clause 2.29 can carry an extension of time. A relevant matter under clause 4.21 can carry loss and expense. The lists overlap heavily, which is why they get treated as one list, and they are not.

Exceptionally adverse weather is the clearest case. It is a relevant event and not a relevant matter, so it buys relief from liquidated damages and nothing else. QScope knows which is which, and says so at the point the claim is entered.

  • Thirteen relevant events, each flagged for whether it can carry money
  • A warning when loss and expense is claimed against an event that cannot carry it
  • Notice date, particulars date and award date held separately
  • Only awarded events move the revised completion date
Extensions of time
EOT-03 assessment
Claimed
6 wks
Awarded
4 wks
Revised
12 Oct 26
Relevant eventExceptionally adverse weather
Notice received14 Mar 2026
Particulars received2 Apr 2026
Loss and expenseNot available
Exceptionally adverse weather is a relevant event under clause 2.29 but not a relevant matter under clause 4.21. It relieves the contractor of damages and carries no money.

Awarded is the only status that moves a date

A claim that has been notified but not decided extends nothing. The extension exists once it is granted, and until then the original completion date stands and damages continue to run against it.

QScope keeps notified, under assessment, awarded and rejected as separate states, and only the awarded weeks reach the revised completion date. Nothing moves because a claim was made loudly.

  • Revised completion date built from awarded weeks only
  • Contract completion date taken from start date and duration
  • Register prints as a document for issue with the assessment
  • Every award carries its own assessment and reasons
Extensions of time
Register
EOT-01 · Variation instruction2 wks awarded
EOT-02 · Late information3 wks under assessment
EOT-03 · Adverse weather4 wks awarded
Applied to completion date6 weeks
EOT-02 is claimed at three weeks and has not been decided, so it does not appear in the six weeks applied to the date.

Where the delay is visible before it is claimed

An extension of time is argued after the event. The programme is where the overrun is visible while it is still happening, which is the point at which a notice has to be served if the entitlement is to survive.

QScope draws the works against the contract period with today marked, so the overrun that supports the claim is a matter of record rather than reconstruction.

  • Contract period taken from the project settings, not drawn by hand
  • Today marked, so the position is obvious without counting
  • Overrun past practical completion stated in weeks
  • Prints alongside the cost report for a progress meeting
Programme
Works against the contract period
Substructure
Frame
Envelope
First fix
Fit out
Contract period32 weeks
Practical completion7 Sep 2026
Sequence runs past PC by6 weeks

The money that some of these events carry

An extension of time buys relief from liquidated damages. It does not, by itself, pay for the cost of being on site longer. That money is loss and expense, and it needs a relevant matter under clause 4.21, not merely a relevant event under clause 2.29.

QScope links each head of claim to the delay event that caused it, and warns where the event carries time only. The two entitlements are assessed separately because they are separate.

  • Prolongation, disruption, overheads and finance charges assessed head by head
  • Each head linked to the delay event it arises from
  • Warning where the event is a relevant event but not a relevant matter
  • Notified, under assessment, ascertained and rejected held separately
Loss and expense
LE-02 prolongation
Claimed
£84,600
Ascertained
£61,200
Heads
4
Caused byEOT-02 late information
Period14 Mar to 22 May 2026
BasisPayroll and plant hire invoices
Ascertained£61,200
Exceptionally adverse weather carries time and nothing else. Late information is a relevant matter, so the prolongation arising from EOT-02 can be claimed.

Where the extension stops the damages clock

The reason an extension matters in money is the completion date it moves. Damages run against that date, and a week of extension is a week the employer can no longer deduct at the liquidated rate.

QScope calculates damages from the completion date after any award, applies any cap, and refuses to let the figure stand while no certificate of non-completion is on the register.

  • Damages run from the revised completion date, not the original
  • Cap applied where the contract states one
  • Red warning where no certificate of non-completion has been issued
  • Revised completion date built from awarded weeks only
Completion
Liquidated damages
Original completion date7 Sep 2026
Revised after 6 weeks awarded19 Oct 2026
Practical completion2 Nov 2026
Weeks late2.00
Damages at £2,500 per week£5,000
Without the six weeks of extension the works would be eight weeks late. The award reduces the damages the employer can deduct from twenty thousand pounds to five.
Questions

What surveyors ask before they start

Does QScope decide the extension for me?

No, and it should not. The assessment is a judgement made by a named person under the contract. QScope holds the dates, the claim, the award and the reasoning, and does the arithmetic that follows from your decision.

Which contract forms does the relevant event list follow?

The list follows the JCT standard forms. Where you are working under an amended contract or a different form, the categories still work as a way of classifying the cause, and the clause numbering will differ.

What happens to a certificate of non-completion when an extension is granted?

It is cancelled and has to be reissued against the new completion date. QScope flags any damages calculation where no valid certificate is on the register.

Can I record loss and expense against a delay event?

Yes, and that is the point of linking them. The heads of claim live in the loss and expense register and each one points back at the event that caused it.

Related

The rest of the commercial picture

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