SUBCONTRACTORS � CONCURRENT DELAY

Abstract

Concurrent delay is a challenging issue that invites a lot of research effort in the area. However, too much research has been done in the context between the owner and the main contractor, focusing on the complexity of resolving the issue. It involves ambiguity of the term concurrent delay, which translates into difficulty in the determination of concurrent delay, approaches to manage concurrent delay and apportionment method of concurrent delay. Due to the complexity of the topic, many articles have explored the issue, albeit they had all left it unresolved. Concurrent delay does not have a definite solution as the issues vary along with the circumstances they are in and the approaches are determined by the contract administrator. The issues are heavily dependent on their method of analysis and as could be seen in case law, the judgment would be made based on the reasonableness of the analysis, making every cases too different to formulate a guideline to address the issues. Therefore, this dissertation has been steered towards the research of concurrency in the context of the subcontractors which is relatively not as well explored. In the process of doing so, as opposed to the uncertain nature of concurrent delay, the issues of concurrent delay in the context of the subcontractors are found to be similar. However, the circumstances tend to be relatively more certain and thus much more can be done to tackle the issue. As such, a proposal has been drafted to provide a guideline for stakeholders who could be affected by subcontractors’ concurrent delay. In the proposal, there is integration of an approach that could be taken together with a formula which could be applied to apportion liabilities among subcontractors as well as main contractor.