Why Extension-of-Time Claims and Site Attendance Records Matter

Extension claims explain the builder's position

Most residential contracts allow time extensions for specified causes if notice requirements are met. Keep every extension-of-time claim, supporting weather information, owner response and revised programme. Do not assume the claim was valid merely because it was issued.

The records can reveal whether the builder attributed delay to weather, variations, access, finance, labour or another cause before the collapse.

Attendance is not the same as progress

A trade entering the site for one hour, a delivery or a supervisor inspection may show activity without meaningful advancement of the contracted work. For the cessation chronology, record who attended, what task was performed and what physical change occurred.

Use site cameras, access logs, diaries, neighbours, delivery dockets and subcontractor messages. Avoid a bare last person seen date.

The records affect multiple issues

They may help determine the 12-month incomplete-work period, evaluate liquidated-damages or delay arguments, respond to allegations that the owner prevented access and explain deterioration during inactivity. They also assist the replacement builder in understanding how long temporary work and materials were exposed.

Where the first builder claims an extension after cessation, preserve the document and seek advice rather than ignoring it.

Create one delay chronology

Combine contractual completion dates, approved extensions, disputed claims, weather events, owner variations, site attendance and periods of no work. Link every entry to evidence and mark uncertain dates clearly.

The chronology should remain factual. Legal conclusions about breach, prevention or termination can be addressed separately by advisers.

Practical takeaway: Time records are construction evidence, not administrative clutter. They can decide when work stopped and why the project failed to reach completion.

How ARK Houses can help

ARK Houses can maintain a factual site-attendance and progress chronology based on photographs, deliveries, trade records and physical change. This is useful both for planning the recovery and for responding if the insurer relies on an earlier cessation date.

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