Course Introduction
Construction claims can significantly affect project cost, schedule, relationships, cash flow, and final outcomes. Claims may arise from variations, delays, disruptions, differing site conditions, design changes, late information, payment issues, unforeseen events, access restrictions, suspension, acceleration, and other circumstances that alter contractual obligations or project performance. Effective claims management therefore requires project professionals to understand both the contractual basis of claims and the practical realities of construction delivery.
This course provides a comprehensive framework for preventing, identifying, preparing, evaluating, managing, negotiating, and resolving construction claims. It examines the complete claims lifecycle from early identification and notice through entitlement assessment, factual investigation, records management, cause-and-effect analysis, quantum assessment, submission, response, negotiation, settlement, and dispute resolution.
Participants will develop practical skills for interpreting construction contracts and identifying the contractual provisions that govern entitlement, notification, variations, extensions of time, compensation, disruption, suspension, payment, force majeure, employer risk events, contractor obligations, and dispute procedures. The course emphasises the importance of understanding contractual risk allocation and maintaining compliance with notice and substantiation requirements.
The programme places particular emphasis on evidence and documentation because successful claims depend heavily on the quality, consistency, timing, and credibility of project records. Participants will learn how to use programmes, site diaries, correspondence, drawings, instructions, meeting records, progress reports, photographs, cost information, resource records, procurement documentation, and other contemporaneous evidence to establish facts and demonstrate cause and effect.
Participants will also examine delay, disruption, prolongation, acceleration, variation, and quantum assessment techniques. The course explores schedule analysis, critical-path considerations, productivity impacts, additional costs, preliminaries, labour and equipment costs, overheads, disruption losses, and other financial consequences while distinguishing legitimate entitlement from unsupported or poorly substantiated claims.
Modern claims management increasingly involves digital project records, electronic correspondence, common data environments, BIM information, automated document analysis, schedule analytics, artificial intelligence, predictive risk tools, and sophisticated project-control systems. The course considers how these developments can improve early-warning capabilities, evidence management, claims preparation, dispute avoidance, and commercial decision-making while maintaining appropriate professional judgement and contractual discipline.
Duration
5 days
Who Should Attend
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Construction project managers and project directors
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Project controls managers and specialists
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Contract managers and contract administrators
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Commercial managers and commercial directors
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Quantity surveyors and cost managers
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Construction claims consultants and claims professionals
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Planning engineers and project schedulers
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Delay and disruption analysts
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Quantity and cost engineers
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Construction managers and site managers
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Contract and procurement professionals
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Engineers involved in contract administration
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Project management office professionals
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Consultants and employer representatives
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Contractors and subcontractor project professionals
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Legal and dispute-resolution professionals supporting construction projects
Course Objectives
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Develop a comprehensive understanding of construction claims management and its relationship with contracts, project controls, commercial management, scheduling, cost management, and project delivery.
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Equip participants with practical techniques for identifying potential claims early, assessing contractual entitlement, establishing notification requirements, and implementing effective claims-prevention processes.
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Strengthen participants’ ability to interpret construction contract provisions relating to variations, delays, extensions of time, disruption, payment, suspension, unforeseen conditions, and other common sources of claims.
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Develop practical skills for collecting, organising, validating, and presenting contemporaneous project records that provide credible evidence for construction claims and contractual decision-making.
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Improve participants’ ability to analyse delay and disruption events by establishing causation, assessing schedule impacts, examining critical-path consequences, and distinguishing responsibility between project parties.
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Equip participants with methods for preparing and evaluating claim quantum, including additional labour, equipment, materials, preliminaries, prolongation costs, disruption impacts, overheads, and other recoverable project costs.
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Strengthen participants’ ability to prepare clear, structured, persuasive claims submissions that connect contractual entitlement, factual evidence, causation, schedule impact, and financial consequences.
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Develop practical capabilities for reviewing contractor and subcontractor claims, testing their validity, identifying weaknesses, assessing supporting evidence, and determining appropriate commercial responses.
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Improve participants’ ability to negotiate and resolve construction claims through structured communication, evidence-based commercial analysis, dispute avoidance, settlement strategies, and escalation procedures.
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Prepare participants to apply modern digital tools, project controls data, schedule analytics, electronic records, BIM information, and emerging technologies to strengthen claims management and dispute prevention.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Foundations of Construction Claims Management
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Understanding the nature, purpose, lifecycle, and commercial significance of construction claims within different project delivery and contracting environments.
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Examining common causes of construction claims, including variations, delays, design changes, payment issues, site conditions, access restrictions, suspension, acceleration, and employer or contractor risk events.
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Distinguishing claims, variations, contractual notices, requests for additional time or money, disputes, and formal proceedings within the broader contract-management framework.
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Establishing a proactive claims-management culture focused on early identification, contractual compliance, accurate records, risk reduction, commercial awareness, and dispute avoidance.
Module 2: Contract Interpretation and Claims Entitlement
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Analysing contract conditions, scope documents, specifications, drawings, schedules, bills of quantities, employer requirements, and other documents relevant to determining contractual entitlement.
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Understanding provisions governing notices, variations, extensions of time, compensation, differing site conditions, suspension, force majeure, payment, insurance, and other claim-generating events.
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Applying principles of contractual risk allocation to determine which party bears responsibility for particular events, consequences, costs, and schedule impacts.
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Identifying contractual time bars, notification requirements, substantiation obligations, procedural conditions, valuation mechanisms, and escalation provisions affecting claims entitlement.
Module 3: Claims Identification, Early Warning, and Prevention
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Establishing systems for identifying emerging claims through project controls, risk registers, correspondence, progress meetings, schedule updates, site records, commercial reviews, and early-warning mechanisms.
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Developing claims-prevention processes that address unclear scope, design coordination problems, delayed approvals, procurement risks, site constraints, access issues, and other recurring sources of disputes.
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Applying structured issue and event registers to track potential claims from initial identification through notification, assessment, resolution, and closure.
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Strengthening collaboration between project management, engineering, planning, commercial, procurement, construction, and contract teams to identify and resolve claim events before escalation.
Module 4: Claims Documentation, Evidence, and Record Management
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Establishing effective systems for maintaining contemporaneous records including site diaries, instructions, correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs, progress reports, inspection records, and delivery documentation.
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Evaluating the reliability, relevance, consistency, completeness, and timing of evidence used to support construction claims and contractual decisions.
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Developing document-control practices that enable project teams to trace instructions, approvals, design changes, delays, costs, resources, progress, and contractual communications.
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Using project schedules, cost reports, procurement records, labour records, equipment logs, productivity information, and digital data to create an integrated evidence base.
Module 5: Delay, Extension of Time, and Schedule Claims
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Understanding the principles of construction delay, critical-path impact, float, concurrent delay, excusable delay, compensable delay, contractor delay, and employer-caused delay.
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Applying practical schedule-analysis approaches to establish baseline conditions, identify affected activities, analyse changes over time, and assess impacts on contractual completion dates.
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Preparing and evaluating extension-of-time claims using contractual requirements, contemporaneous records, updated programmes, critical-path analysis, and cause-and-effect evidence.
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Distinguishing delay from disruption and examining how multiple events, changed conditions, resequencing, and concurrent activities can complicate entitlement and responsibility.
Module 6: Disruption, Acceleration, and Quantum Assessment
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Understanding construction disruption and its relationship with productivity losses, inefficient sequencing, workfront restrictions, overcrowding, interruptions, rework, and changes in construction methods.
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Assessing acceleration requirements and costs arising from instructed or constructive acceleration, including additional resources, overtime, additional shifts, equipment, subcontractors, and revised work methods.
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Developing quantum assessments covering labour, equipment, materials, subcontractor costs, site overheads, head-office overheads, prolongation, escalation, and other potentially recoverable costs.
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Applying appropriate evidence and analytical methods to establish financial causation, avoid double counting, distinguish actual from estimated costs, and support credible claim valuations.
Module 7: Variations, Change Management, and Commercial Claims
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Managing variations and change events through instruction, valuation, approval, documentation, pricing, implementation, and integration with project schedules and cost controls.
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Evaluating the contractual and commercial consequences of design changes, scope additions, omissions, substitutions, client instructions, unforeseen conditions, and revised requirements.
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Integrating change management with cost forecasting, schedule updates, risk registers, procurement impacts, subcontractor claims, and project financial reporting.
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Developing commercial strategies for evaluating disputed variations, provisional items, remeasurement, dayworks, rates, quotations, and other construction valuation mechanisms.
Module 8: Claims Preparation, Evaluation, Negotiation, and Settlement
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Structuring professional claims submissions that clearly present contractual entitlement, factual background, event chronology, causation, schedule impact, quantum, evidence, and requested relief.
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Reviewing and evaluating contractor, subcontractor, employer, and consultant claims by testing contractual provisions, factual evidence, causation, programme impacts, and financial calculations.
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Applying negotiation strategies that focus on evidence, interests, risk exposure, commercial alternatives, settlement parameters, and preservation of long-term project relationships.
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Developing structured approaches to claim settlement, without-prejudice discussions, senior management escalation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration, litigation, and other dispute-resolution mechanisms.
Module 9: Claims Management, Project Controls, and Dispute Avoidance
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Integrating claims management with project controls through schedules, cost reports, risk registers, change logs, progress data, forecasts, procurement information, and commercial dashboards.
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Developing claims indicators and management reports that highlight emerging entitlement, unresolved events, financial exposure, schedule risks, contractual deadlines, and potential disputes.
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Establishing governance processes for claims review, approval, escalation, legal input, commercial decision-making, settlement authority, and management reporting.
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Applying proactive dispute-avoidance techniques including early intervention, collaborative problem-solving, structured issue resolution, transparent communication, and evidence-based commercial management.
Module 10: Emerging Issues and the Future of Construction Claims Management
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Exploring the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, automated document review, natural-language analysis, and predictive analytics in claims identification and evidence management.
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Examining how BIM, digital twins, common data environments, electronic correspondence, mobile applications, drones, and digital site records can strengthen claims evidence and project transparency.
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Addressing emerging claims risks associated with climate events, supply-chain disruption, inflation, material shortages, labour constraints, cybersecurity incidents, sustainability requirements, and technological change.
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Developing future-ready claims-management systems that combine contractual discipline, integrated project controls, digital evidence, predictive risk analysis, collaborative resolution, and stronger dispute-prevention practices.
Training Approach
This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.
Tailor-Made Course
This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808
Training Venue
The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.
Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant
Certification
Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.
Airport Pickup and Accommodation
Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808
Terms of Payment:
Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.
