An Investigation into the difficulties in which Main Contractors encounter when applying for a Loss and Expense claim under the JCT SBC 2011 form of Contract

Abstract

Loss and Expense is a key area in Contract Law, within most construction projects changes occur within construction phase. With this, in turn it often leads to extended durations of the contract meaning later handovers and often additional expense to the Contractor. Within a Construction Contract there are provisions which deal with Loss and Expense. Due to the often complexity of a given Contract, it often leads to questions on the ownership of the additional expense and leads to dispute between Main Contractor’s and their Clients. The main aim of this Dissertation is to investigate the difficulties in which Main Contractors face when applying for Loss and expense under a JCT SBC 2011 form of contract and recommend ways in which these difficulties can be avoided, in order to be successful in a given claim. Mixed research methodology was used to gather data mainly due to the question researched in the dissertation. By using both quantitative and qualitative methodology it will give numerical statistics on the subject matter, whilst qualitative methodology will help to be specific in understanding, what are the main difficulties in which the contractor faces when claiming for a loss and expense claim under the JCT form of contract? The Main findings of the study highlighted that there is need for in depth research in to particular ways in which Main Contractors apply for Loss and Expense. It was found that on average from the results in Chapter four, that Main Contractors are successful in one in three on average applications for Loss and Expense. It was found the main reason for this was due to record keeping by the Contractor being the downfall for why the Contractor fails to be successful. It can be concluded from the findings that more needs to be done from the Main Contractor to ensure better record keeping and a better understanding of the contract is known prior to the commencement of a project, this will in turn help to lessen the difficulties faced when applying for Loss and Expense under a JCT SBC 2011 form of contract.