FORENSIC PLANNING AND DELAY ANALYSIS
Forensic delay analysis: when the programme becomes the evidence
The records first. Then the argument.
Delay and extension of time analysis for contractors on NEC, JCT and FIDIC jobs, built from the native programme files and the project records. It starts with a delay position review of what the records support, from £2,500 + VAT.
Demo project: the delay position review and the as-planned against as-built view in Primavera P6. Opens the sample as a PDF.
REPLY WITHIN ONE WORKING DAY
WRITTEN VIEW WITHIN 5 WORKING DAYS
SENIOR REVIEW BEFORE EVERY ISSUE
NDA AS STANDARD
NEC ACCREDITED
APMG QUALIFIED
P6 / MS PROJECT / ASTA
NEC / JCT / FIDIC
THE QUESTION
Where did the time go and whose is it?
Forensic delay analysis works out what delayed the job and who carries the time. Every extension of time, every disputed quotation and every damages deduction comes down to what the programme showed at the time and what the records prove. The analysis has to hold up when the other side's planner reads it.
WHO IT'S FOR
Six positions, one standard of proof
Most extension of time claims and delay disputes start from one of these positions. A claim can also be tested before it goes in.
THE POSITION
WHAT WE ESTABLISH
An extension of time submitted, not accepted
The entitlement was asserted on a narrative the assessor would not accept. We rebuild the position from the records and the programme, so the next submission rests on proof.
Compensation event quotations disputed on time
The Project Manager challenges the delay in a quotation or is set to make its own assessment under clause 64. We isolate the event and show how far it delays planned Completion on the programme the contract names: the Accepted Programme current at the dividing date (clause 63.5 of the NEC4 ECC) or the Project Manager's own assessment under clause 64.2.
Delay damages threatened or deducted
Damages for late completion are notified or already withheld. We test how much of the delay is yours, separate the client's events and any concurrent delay, then show in days the balance the records support.
Adjudication or proceedings ahead
Referral windows are short and the analysis carries the case. We build the delay analysis and the exhibits for your claims team or counsel, to the standard the forum expects. For an appointed expert we work under their direction.
A post-completion claim to assemble
The project has closed and the story is spread across programme revisions, emails and site records. We reconstruct it from the native files into one referenced as-built account.
A subcontractor claim to test
A delay claim has arrived from your supply chain. We test its method, logic and records before you pay it or pass it up the line.
It works the same way for main contractors and specialist subcontractors, in civil and M&E work. For a quotation still to be submitted, see compensation events.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Three layers of forensic delay analysis, issued as evidence
Every instruction from a contractor starts with a delay position review: a records audit, a method memo and a written view of what the records support. If the position holds, the full analysis is scoped to it. Most need one layer. Contested cases use all three.
As-planned against as-built in P6, demo project
RECORDS AUDIT
What exists, what is missing and what the records can support.
METHOD MEMO
The method chosen and the reasons, agreed in writing before any build.
WRITTEN VIEW
The days the records support by cause and ownership, with a fixed fee for the full analysis.
Delay position review, demo project
LAYER A
As-planned vs as-built reconstruction
The baseline is checked first. The as-built is then built from the native files and site records, with every delay tied to dated evidence.
ISSUED AS
As-built programme
Delay schedule
Records map
LAYER B
Time impact and windows analysis
Event fragnets and time slice windows, run prospectively or retrospectively as the contract and the records require, measure how planned Completion moved in each window.
ISSUED AS
Impacted programmes
Windows summary
Entitlement table
LAYER C
Native file forensics
XER, XML, MPP and Asta files read directly: recovered baselines, calendar changes, overridden logic and status dates. The file history is often the strongest evidence in the case.
ISSUED AS
File audit note
Version chronology
Exhibit pack
Delay and disruption analysis share the same records. Loss of productivity, including measured mile analysis where the records allow, is assessed within layers A and B. Your quantity surveyor prices it.
METHOD DISCIPLINE
The method is chosen to fit the facts
On an NEC contract, construction delay analysis starts with the contract's own test. The delay a compensation event causes is assessed against the Accepted Programme current at the dividing date (clause 63.5 of the NEC4 ECC).
Beyond that, we choose the method against the considerations the Society of Construction Law Delay and Disruption Protocol (2nd edition) sets out, among them the contract, the events, the records and programmes available, the value of the dispute, the time available and the forum that will decide it. The choice and the reasons are agreed in a method memo before the build starts.
Impacted as-planned
Time impact analysis
Time slice windows
As-planned vs as-built windows
Retrospective longest path
Collapsed as-built
The six commonly used methods the Protocol describes. The memo also records why the others were not chosen.
Grounded in live NEC delivery
We spend our working weeks inside live NEC4 programmes: clause 61.3 notifications, Accepted Programmes and quotations. The analysis comes from people who live with the consequences.
We work from the native files
Many reconstructions start from printed programmes. Ours start from the XER: recovered baselines, calendars and status dates, with the file history read as evidence.
The honest answer arrives first
The delay position review comes first: a records audit closed by a written method memo. If the records cannot support the position, you hear it then, in writing. Notices at risk of a time bar are flagged at the start.
Scope is deliberately narrow: we do time. Quantum stays with your quantity surveyor or the appointed quantum expert, who receive the programme basis they need.
Contemporaneous records cut the cost of every step. Our project controls and reporting keep them up to date as the job runs.
HOW IT RUNS
From the first call to the evidence
A call about the position
Tell us the contract, the position and the date that matters. You don't need to send anything first.
WITHIN ONE WORKING DAY
Scope, fee and dates
Agreed in writing before any chargeable work, with the date the written view is due.
WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THE CALL
Records audit and method memo
What exists, what is missing and what the records can support, with the method agreed in writing. An NEC Accredited Project Manager reviews the written view before it is issued.
WRITTEN VIEW WITHIN 5 WORKING DAYS
Analysis, report and exhibits
Programmes reconstructed or impacted and events mapped to cause and ownership, issued through a documented check in the form your audience needs.
ON THE DATE SET IN THE SCOPE
The written view is issued within 5 working days of the scope being agreed and the native files received. Each step is recorded in writing, so the record shows the method was chosen before the answer was known.
PRICES
Forensic delay analysis prices, agreed before work starts
The delay position review tells you what the records support. It comes with a fixed fee for the full analysis, so you know the whole cost before you commit.
DELAY POSITION REVIEW
From £2,500
+ VAT
ONE-OFF, FIXED FEE
A fixed-fee first look at the records and what they support, with a written view within 5 working days.
Analyst support for claims consultancies, solicitors and expert teams is a fixed fee per instruction. Every fee is agreed in writing before any chargeable work.
QUESTIONS
Common questions about forensic delay analysis
How much does forensic delay analysis cost?
The delay position review is a fixed fee from £2,500 + VAT. It covers a records audit, a method memo and a written view of what the records support. The written view comes with a fixed fee for the full analysis, so you see the whole cost before you commit. Analyst support for claims consultancies, solicitors and expert teams is a fixed fee per instruction.
How long does a construction delay analysis take?
We reply to every enquiry within one working day and confirm the scope and fee in writing within 48 hours of the first call. The written view is issued within 5 working days of the scope being agreed and the native files received. The full analysis is issued on the date set in its scope, planned around any submission, referral or response date.
Can you check our extension of time claim before we submit it?
Yes. The delay position review tests a claim against the records and the contract before it goes in: whether any notice is at risk, whether the method fits the contract and whether the records carry the days claimed. The written view goes to your team only and we keep it confidential under an NDA. If proceedings are likely, ask your solicitor whether to instruct us through them.
What if our records are thin or a notice was missed?
That is why the records audit comes first. It shows what exists, what is missing and what the records can still support, in writing, before any analysis is built. Under clause 61.3 of the NEC4 ECC, an event notified more than eight weeks after the Contractor became aware it had happened can lose its time and money, unless it arose from an instruction, notification, certificate or changed decision of the Project Manager or the Supervisor. Any notice at risk is flagged at the start.
Can you support an adjudication or an appointed expert?
Yes. For a referral or a response we build the delay analysis and the exhibits for your claims team or counsel, to the timetable the forum sets. For an appointed expert we work as analysts under their direction, to their method, with no authorship taken. Conflicts are checked before any material is shared.
Do you analyse delay on JCT and FIDIC contracts?
Yes. The analysis follows the contract you are on. Under the JCT Standard Building Contract 2016 the question is which Relevant Events delay completion beyond the Completion Date and what later Completion Date is fair and reasonable (clauses 2.28 and 2.29). Under FIDIC 2017 an extension of time follows Sub-Clause 8.5 and the claims procedure in Sub-Clause 20.2, which starts with a Notice of Claim no later than 28 days after the Contractor became aware of the event or should have become aware of it.
FOR DISPUTES PRACTICES AND EXPERT TEAMS
The analyst layer, under your direction
We provide forensic planning support to claims consultancies, solicitors and expert teams: reconstruction, windows builds, file forensics and exhibit preparation. The work is remote, at a fixed fee per instruction, with native file turnaround measured in days.
Your method, our build
Scope and method are set by your lead expert. We build to that instruction and return the working files.
Conflict-checked, brand-silent
Conflicts are declared per instruction before any material is shared. No authorship credit is expected or taken.
P6-native speed
We work in the planning tools your matters arrive in. Native files go in and audited outputs come out, with no conversion.
WORKING ENVIRONMENT
Primavera P6 (XER and XML), Microsoft Project and Asta Powerproject. Exhibits in PDF or Power BI.
PRACTICAL ADVICE
Further reading on delay analysis
GET STARTED
Start with a delay position review
Tell us the contract, the position and the date that matters, such as a submission, a referral or a deduction. We reply within one working day and confirm the scope and a fixed fee in writing within 48 hours of the call.
You don't need to send anything first.