The contracts manager's guide to surviving notice deadlines without a claims consultant

The claims consultant arrives when a claim is large enough to justify the fee. The notice clocks run every day before that. This is a system for the contracts manager who has to keep them all from expiring without help, in the hours left after the day job.

Step 1: know every window before you need it

For each project, write down four things from the contract as amended: the notice period, whether it runs from the event or from awareness, whether it is a condition precedent, and any form requirements. Do it once, at project start, and keep it where the whole team can see it. On a FIDIC project with Particular Conditions, read the PCs against the standard clause; the number you remember from the last project is the number most likely to be wrong on this one.

Step 2: log events on the day, from the site

The register only works if it is started before the delay is obvious. Make logging so cheap that the site engineer does it on a phone the day the RFI goes unanswered or the gate is found locked. Capture two dates: when it happened and when you became aware. The second one starts most clocks and is the only fact still arguable if a notice is late.

Step 3: compute deadlines in the right calendar

Calendar-day clauses are simpler but public holidays still matter for dispatch. Whatever the rule, compute it per project, and set reminders at seven, three, and one day out.

Step 4: notice first, argument later

The short notice needs to exist, cite the clause, describe the event, and reserve the right. It does not need to quantify anything. Write it in the register's own words the same day; polish nothing. Then log it as sent with the method and date. Drafted is not sent; sent is not served until it is.

Step 5: file evidence as it appears

Photograph the diary page. Export the site WhatsApp group monthly. Save the transmittal. Link each item to the event it belongs to, and check per event which of the fourteen evidence categories are still missing while the site can still create them.

Step 6: bring the consultant in at the draft, not the dispute

When a claim is worth pursuing, hand the consultant a structured draft with a chronology, evidence references, and a notice history, not a box of records. Review hours cost a fraction of assembly weeks, and the consultant's name goes on a document that was built properly from the start.

This article is general information about how these contract mechanisms typically work. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for review of your specific contract by a qualified professional.