Loss and expense

Ascertaining loss and expense

Ascertained means calculated from evidence, not estimated. A single figure with no basis behind it invites an ascertainment of nil, and that is a defensible outcome.

QScope Team·5 min read

One head at a time

Open Loss and Expense and add a head.
Choose it: prolongation, disruption, head office overheads, finance charges, additional supervision or claim preparation.
Enter the period the loss was incurred over, and the amount.
Link it to the delay event that caused it.

The period is the weeks the delay actually happened, not the weeks added to the end of the programme. Those are different weeks with different site establishments and different costs, and using the wrong ones is the commonest error in a prolongation claim.

The warning that saves the claim

Loss and expense needs a relevant matter under clause 4.21. An extension of time needs a relevant event under clause 2.29.

If you hang a head of claim on an event that carries time but not money, QScope colours the entry red and says so. It is better to find that out while entering the claim than in the response to it.

Record the basis

Prolongation calculated as the tendered weekly preliminaries multiplied by the weeks of delay is a price, not a loss. The claim is for what was actually incurred, evidenced from the accounts.

Write the basis against each head: payroll, plant hire invoices, allocation sheets.
QScope flags anything marked as ascertained with no basis recorded.

That flag exists because a head with no basis is the line an assessor deletes first, and it costs nothing to fill in at the time.

Into the final account

Claimed and ascertained are shown separately, because they are different numbers and conflating them damages the credibility of the rest of the account.

Set the status to Ascertained once the figure is settled.
Click Use in final account.

Working under FIDIC

FIDIC has no head called loss and expense. On a FIDIC job the cost of a delay is claimed together with the time through the Contractor's Claims machinery under Sub-Clause 20.1 in the 1999 edition, under the same notice that governs the extension of time.

Record the cost against the Sub-Clause 20.1 claim, not as a separate loss and expense head.
Enter the date the contractor became aware of the event and the date notice was given.
Keep the basis as usual: payroll, plant hire invoices, allocation sheets.

Notice under Sub-Clause 20.1 must be given within 28 days of awareness, and in the 1999 edition it is a condition precedent for the money as much as the time. QScope counts in calendar days, supports non-GBP currencies, and flags a claim served late. The periods and rates are published starting points, editable for the Particular Conditions and to verify locally.

The dates come from your contract, not from ours