An extension of time (EOT) is a formal change to the contract completion date, granted when a delay is caused by something the contract treats as the Client's risk or a neutral event. It protects the contractor from Liquidated Damages for the period covered, but it does not on its own pay for the cost of the delay.
Worked example
A project has a completion date of 30 June and liquidated damages of £2,000 a week. Exceptionally adverse weather and a late client instruction delay the works. The contractor gives notice, the contract administrator assesses the effect and grants three weeks, moving completion to 21 July. The building is finished on 14 July.
| Position | Without EOT | With EOT |
|---|---|---|
| Completion date | 30 June | 21 July |
| Actual completion | 14 July | 14 July |
| Weeks late | 2 | 0 |
| Liquidated damages | £4,000 | £0 |
How the contract grants one
Under JCT, the contractor must give notice when it becomes reasonably apparent that progress is or may be delayed. The contract administrator then decides whether a listed relevant event caused a delay to the completion date.
Under NEC4, the equivalent is a Compensation Event, which can move the completion date as well as the price. The contract sets the notice requirements and the time the administrator has to respond. Missing them weakens a claim, so diarise them on every job.
An extension of time is about the date. If the delay also cost the contractor money, that is a separate claim for Loss and Expense, or part of the compensation event assessment.
EOT in the cost report
Keep a log of delay events with the date, the cause, the notice given and the days claimed or granted. Your forecast of liquidated damages exposure should use the granted completion date, not the original.
Show any pending EOT claim as a note against the programme rather than assuming it will be granted. On the Subcontract side, the same event may need a matching extension to the Subcontractor's dates, otherwise you could be passing on delay damages the main contract does not allow.
Related terms
Loss and Expense, Liquidated Damages, Compensation Event, Practical Completion, Variation.
Planyard's construction forecasting lets you update Cost-to-Complete when a revised completion date changes your preliminaries, so a granted extension shows up in the forecast final margin.
