AI for Construction Claim Preparation - A FIDIC Practitioner's Guide
The Moment the Engineer's Instruction Arrived
I want to start with something that most construction professionals feel but rarely say out loud.
When the Engineer's instruction arrived on our expressway project requesting construction of an additional access road at a point when we were approaching original completion, my first reaction was not technical. It was not commercial. It was purely human.
I was shocked. And honestly, I felt deflated.
After months of hard work, our entire team had mentally set ourselves to finish the project and move forward. That collective mindset, the focus, the momentum, the anticipation of completion, was instantly disrupted by one instruction. Then the practical reality started to settle in: the asphalt plant that we had been preparing to demobilize would need to stay on site for months, doing nothing. The crew members assigned to it would be standing by, idle, drawing costs every day while we waited for the access road design to be completed by the Employer.
My first thoughts were not about FIDIC clauses or critical path analysis. They were: how much is this going to cost us financially? What happens to our cash flow? How do we explain this sudden change to our management?
Only after those immediate human reactions did the professional thinking begin. And that is the reality of claim preparation that no textbook captures. It starts with shock, moves through assessment, and eventually becomes a structured professional process. This article documents that full journey.
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The Construction Claim Preparation Process Step by Step
A professionally prepared construction claim follows a structured, sequential process. Each stage builds on the previous — and failure at any stage can undermine the entire claim.
| Stage | Activity | Critical Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Issue Claim Notice | Under FIDIC Sub-Clause 20.1, notice must be issued not later than 28 days after the Contractor became aware of the event. Missing this deadline results in technical rejection of the entire claim. |
| Stage 2 | Establish Contractual Entitlement | Identify the specific contract clause providing the right to claim Variation, Employer Risk Event, Engineer Instruction, or other qualifying event. |
| Stage 3 | Identify and Demonstrate Cause | Establish the direct cause and demonstrate its direct effect on the project schedule and/or budget. |
| Stage 4 | Delay Analysis | The most time-consuming stage. Demonstrate the impact of the event on the critical path using the approved baseline programme as the benchmark. |
| Stage 5 | Quantum Calculation | Calculate the financial impact of additional costs, prolongation costs, idle plant, extended preliminaries fully substantiated with contemporaneous records. |
| Stage 6 | Claim Submission | Submit a fully documented claim narrative linking cause, effect, and quantum with all supporting evidence properly referenced. |
FIDIC Notice Requirements: The 28-Day Time Bar
Under the FIDIC Conditions of Contract, Sub-Clause 20.1 — Contractor's Claims states:
"The notice shall be given as soon as practicable, and not later than 28 days after the Contractor became aware, or should have become aware, of the event or circumstance."
— FIDIC Conditions of Contract, Sub-Clause 20.1
The consequence of failing to issue notice within this period is unambiguous: the Time for Completion shall not be extended, the Contractor shall not be entitled to additional payment, and the Employer is discharged from all liability.
Important note for practitioners working under other standard forms: Time bar provisions vary significantly. The 28-day period applies under FIDIC. Practitioners working under NEC or JCT contracts must verify the applicable notice requirements, as the periods and procedures differ materially.
Two Real Claims: What Actually Happened
Claim 1 - The Expressway Access Road: From Shock to Settlement
💼 From My Professional Experience - Expressway Project:
On a previous expressway construction project operating under the FIDIC Pink Book, the Engineer issued an instruction requiring construction of an additional access road. The instruction arrived when the project was approaching its original completion date.
My first reaction — before any professional assessment, was purely human. Shock. Deflation. The entire team had mentally prepared for project completion. That instruction changed everything instantly. My immediate thoughts were about the asphalt plant sitting idle for months, the crew standing by drawing costs, the impact on cash flow, and how to explain this sudden change to senior management.
Only after those initial reactions did the professional process begin.
The claim was prepared combining both Extension of Time (EOT) and additional cost entitlement. The most challenging aspects of quantum were:
- Calculating actual equipment idle costs, the asphalt plant and associated heavy equipment that had been ready for demobilization had to be retained on site, idle, while access road design was completed
- Demonstrating the critical path impact by working with the planning team to establish precisely how the instruction affected the programme
- Substantiating prolonged preliminary traffic management, key site staff, and site establishment costs required beyond the original completion date
The applicable FIDIC clauses: Clause 13.1 (Variations and Adjustments), the Engineer's instruction constituted a Variation. Clause 20.1 (Contractor's Claims) governing the notice requirement for both EOT and additional cost. Clause 8.4(a) (Extension of Time) protecting against Liquidated Damages. Clause 8.7 (Delay Damages), the secured EOT prevented LD deductions.
Claim 2 - The USD 1.5 Million Subcontractor Claim: When Evidence Changes Everything
💼 From My Current Project : A USD 1.5 Million Claim Negotiation:
On my current infrastructure project, a subcontractor submitted a claim totalling approximately USD 1.5 million. The claim included several heads: additional work allegedly not reflected in the BOQ, additional quantity claims based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what a remeasurable contract means, multi-year delay costs, equipment standby, and additional safety requirements imposed by the Main Contractor.
My initial evaluation: USD 150,000.
That evaluation was based strictly on contract conditions and contract logic. The subcontractor had failed to issue timely delay notices as required under the contract. Their updated schedules lacked proper critical path analysis. Many of the claimed delays were attributable to their own slow mobilization and insufficient equipment deployment on site. The USD 150,000 offered represented only the undisputed, clearly documented idling time that our team had directly caused — with full contemporaneous evidence.
Then the first round of negotiation happened.
During that meeting, the subcontractor presented information they had not included in their formal claim submission. They explained that most of the instructions they had received from our site engineers had been given verbally or via WhatsApp messages, not through formal written instructions as required under FIDIC Clause 3.3 (Instructions of the Engineer). They had never issued formal variation notices as required under FIDIC Clause 13 (Variations and Adjustments). But they now produced signed site diary entries witnessed by our own site staff showing that our team had repeatedly changed their working areas, disrupting their sequence and productivity, to prioritize other work packages.
Contractually, the absence of formal notices was a significant weakness in their claim. But the signed site diaries showing our team's instructions, even if given informally, represented evidence that could not be ignored as a matter of professional fairness.
I revised my evaluation upward to reflect the documented disruption. I presented the position to senior management with a frank assessment: this subcontractor is small. If we apply the strictest contractual interpretation, which was defensible, our evaluation would not change significantly. But the practical consequence might be financial collapse for a company that had genuinely been affected, in part, by instructions from our own team.
Senior management agreed to a commercially pragmatic settlement that went beyond the strict contractual minimum, not because the contract required it, but because the evidence supported a broader assessment of what had actually happened on site, and because long-term commercial relationships in construction have value.
This is what professional QS practice looks like at its most complex level. It is not always about applying the contract strictly. Sometimes it is about understanding what the evidence actually shows and making a commercially sound recommendation to management based on that honest assessment.
The FIDIC Clause 3.3 Dimension A Critical Professional Lesson
There is an important FIDIC provision that both parties in this situation had failed to apply, and understanding it is essential for any QS or Engineer working under FIDIC conditions.
FIDIC Clause 3.3 (Instructions of the Engineer) states that whenever practicable, instructions shall be given in writing. However, and this is the critical provision, the clause also establishes a mechanism for handling oral instructions:
If the Engineer gives an oral instruction, and the Contractor sends a written confirmation of that instruction within two working days, and the Engineer does not reply by issuing a written rejection within two working days of receiving that confirmation, then the confirmation shall constitute the written instruction of the Engineer.
— FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction, MDB Harmonised Edition, June 2010, Clause 3.3
In this subcontractor claim situation, both parties had failed in their respective obligations:
- Our site engineers gave oral instructions and WhatsApp messages, and never followed up with formal written instructions as the contract required.
- The subcontractor received those oral instructions, acted on them, but never sent written confirmations within the 2-working-day window as FIDIC Clause 3.3 permitted them to do.
Had the subcontractor sent written confirmations of each oral instruction within 2 working days and had our team not responded with written rejections within the following 2 working days, those confirmations would have constituted valid written Engineer's instructions under FIDIC. Their claim position would have been significantly stronger.
This is the professional lesson for every QS and site team working under FIDIC: when you receive a verbal instruction, confirm it in writing immediately. Do not wait. Do not assume. The 2-working-day window in Clause 3.3 is your contractual protection, and if you miss it, you lose it.
In the absence of those written confirmations from either side, the claim evaluation had to rely on the signed site diary entries, which, while valuable evidence, were a much weaker contractual foundation than properly confirmed written instructions would have been.
An important professional note on the management decision above: recommending a commercially pragmatic settlement does not mean ignoring the contract or being a poor QS. It means presenting senior management with a complete, honest picture of the strict contractual position, the evidence that complicates it, and the commercial considerations and letting them make an informed decision. That is exactly what a senior QS should do. The professional failure would have been presenting only the strict contractual minimum without acknowledging the full evidential picture.
Critical Documents Required for a Construction Claim
The strength of any construction claim is entirely dependent on the quality and completeness of its supporting documentation. The subcontractor claim example above illustrates this perfectly . The signed site diaries, presented only at the negotiation meeting, significantly changed the commercial picture. Had those documents been included in the original claim submission, the evaluation process would have been very different.
| Document | Purpose | Consequence if Missing |
|---|---|---|
| Claim Notice (Sub-Clause 20.1) | Establishes contractual entitlement and preserves the right to claim | Technical rejection of entire claim, no entitlement to EOT or additional cost |
| Approved Baseline Programme | Benchmark for delay analysis demonstrates planned vs actual progress | Cannot demonstrate critical path impact delay analysis collapses |
| Daily Site Diaries and Progress Reports | Contemporaneous records of manpower, weather, plant usage, and specific delays | Forced to submit a Global Claim almost universally rejected by Engineers and courts |
| Meeting Minutes | Signed records of progress and technical meetings demonstrate awareness and notification | Loss of evidence that Engineer was aware of delay events |
| Dated Photographic and Video Evidence | Visual proof of site conditions, access restrictions, idle equipment | Cannot visually substantiate site reality The engineer may dispute the factual basis of the claim |
| Timesheets and Payroll Records | Substantiates labour cost claims and prolongation staff costs | Engineer will apply their own (usually lower) labour rate estimates |
| Invoices and Plant Hire Receipts | Substantiates equipment costs particularly idle plant claims | Loss of negotiating leverage Engineer values at their own rates |
| Head Office Overhead Records | Substantiates prolonged head office overhead claims | Head office overhead component of claim cannot be substantiated |
The Global Claim: Why Missing Documents Is Catastrophic
When a contractor cannot link each individual delay event to specific contemporaneous records, they are forced to submit a Global Claim claiming a total sum without separating individual causes and effects.
The consequences are severe:
- Engineers and courts almost universally reject Global Claims because the contractor has not proven direct cause and effect.
- Loss of negotiating leverage without actual receipts and records, the Engineer values the work at their own (lower) estimates.
- Liquidated Damages exposure without as-built programme data proving Employer-caused delay, the EOT cannot be secured, and LDs can be deducted.
The professional lesson: contemporaneous record-keeping is not an administrative function, it is a commercial protection mechanism. Records must be maintained from day one of the project, regardless of whether a claim is anticipated.
How AI Can Assist in Claim Preparation
1. Claim Narrative Writing Claude AI
In my professional practice, I use Claude AI for claim document drafting and narrative writing. The prompt I apply:
"You are a professional Quantity Surveyor preparing a formal construction claim narrative under FIDIC Conditions of Contract. Using the following factual data [insert data], prepare a professionally structured claim narrative covering: contractual entitlement, cause and effect, delay analysis summary, and quantum. The narrative must reference the applicable FIDIC clauses, maintain a formal professional tone, and strictly follow the provided data only."
2. Specification and Contract Document Summarization
AI tools can efficiently summarize large contract documents, helping identify relevant clauses, applicable rates, and contractual provisions that support the claim.
3. Correspondence Drafting
Formal claim correspondence notices, interim submissions, and response letters can be drafted efficiently using AI, saving significant professional time.
4. Quantum Calculation Checking
AI can assist in reviewing calculation structures and checking mathematical accuracy, reducing arithmetic error risk in complex quantum calculations.
What AI Cannot Do in Claim Preparation
AI cannot practice construction law. The subcontractor claim example illustrates this perfectly. Determining whether informal verbal instructions and WhatsApp messages, while not contractually compliant, create any moral or commercial obligation is a human professional judgment. AI cannot make that assessment.
AI cannot verify site reality. The signed site diaries that changed my evaluation were meaningful because I understood the site context, what those diary entries meant for actual productivity, what the working area changes had actually caused. AI has no site knowledge.
AI cannot perform delay analysis. Critical path analysis requires specialist programme expertise and direct project knowledge.
AI output requires professional review. Any AI-generated claim content must be thoroughly reviewed before submission.
Practical Guidelines for AI in Claim Preparation
| Claim Activity | AI Suitable? | Professional Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Claim narrative drafting | Yes - with review | Full professional review before submission |
| Contract document summarization | Yes - with verification | Verify against original contract documents |
| Correspondence drafting | Yes - with review | Professional review and approval before issue |
| Quantum calculation checking | Yes - as a support tool | Independent verification of all calculations |
| Delay analysis | No - Human only | Qualified programme specialist required |
| Contractual entitlement assessment | No - Human only | Qualified QS and legal professional judgment |
| Commercial settlement judgment | No - Human only | Senior QS professional judgment and management decision |
| Notice management and time bars | No - Human only | Qualified QS missing deadline = loss of claim |
Conclusion
The expressway claim started with shock and deflation, not technical analysis. The subcontractor claim required two rounds of negotiation and a revision of my initial evaluation based on evidence presented at the meeting table. Neither of these situations could have been navigated by an AI tool.
AI can help you draft the claim narrative faster. It can help you structure the correspondence. It can check your quantum calculations for arithmetic errors. These are genuine, practical time savings in a process that is already demanding enough.
But the judgment calls assessing what the evidence actually shows, deciding what is commercially fair as well as contractually correct, defending your productivity rates in a meeting room, recommending a position to senior management, those are yours. They require professional knowledge, direct project experience, and the kind of human judgment that no AI system can replicate.
The claim is only as strong as its evidence. The evidence is only as strong as the professional who gathers, organizes, and presents it and has the judgment to know what it really means.
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If this article helped you, please consider:
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- 📖 Reading our related articles — links below
Has a claim negotiation ever surprised you with evidence you did not expect? Share your experience in the comments!
About The Author
A practicing Quantity Surveyor with extensive experience in large-scale infrastructure projects under FIDIC conditions.
Qualifications:
- BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying
- MCIOB — Chartered Institute of Building
- MQSI — Quantity Surveyor Institute Member
This blog shares real professional experience from live construction projects — not theoretical content.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the FIDIC time bar for construction claims?
What is a Global Claim and why is it rejected?
Can AI prepare a construction claim?
What happens when a subcontractor gives verbal instructions instead of written ones?
What FIDIC clauses apply to EOT and additional cost claims?
How can AI assist with delay analysis?
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