Defects Liability Period

Member for

17 years 3 months

Dear Neil,



The case with the client was how to determine which budget to use. The Project Budget or the Operational Budget. In both cases, it would be done by the same Contractor.



The final invoice is made after the end of the Defect Liability Period, then the Contractor submit his "Discharge" notice as per clause 14/12.



Thank you for your kind input.



Best Regards,



Samer

Member for

24 years 9 months

1. Disputes can be raised any time - specific contracts and post-contract agreements may questions their validity. Disputes for events that have occured during DLP raise an eyebrow as they potentially stem from mis-administration of the contract - see item 2.



2. Unless expressely stated in the contract, I do not believe a variation should be issued during the DLP period i.e. beyond the contract completion date. In reality it reamins an easy tool to ’instruct’ a bit of this and that beyond the completion date; however the contractor is well within his rights to refuse the work or re-rate it.

Member for

20 years 10 months

Samer,



1. Yes usually



2. Probably



It is often the case that you can not refer a dispute to arbitration until after completion, (or substantial completion), but pretty rare if your contract says you can not until after the Defects Liability Period.



It is the case that some contracts do not allow the Engineer to issue variations after completion but it is now more normal that the contract expressly states that he/she can.



Depends on what your contract says - as always.