Course Introduction
Financial claims assessment is a critical project management discipline that enables organizations to evaluate additional payment requests, contractual entitlements, cost recovery submissions, and disputed financial demands in a systematic and evidence-based manner. Complex projects frequently encounter claims arising from delays, scope changes, disruption, unforeseen conditions, acceleration, price adjustments, and differences in contractual interpretation. Without a consistent assessment methodology, organizations may accept unsupported costs, reject legitimate entitlements, experience prolonged disputes, or make financial decisions that undermine project profitability. This course develops the practical knowledge required to assess financial claims accurately, transparently, and in accordance with contractual obligations.
Project financial claims often involve multiple interconnected issues, including contractual notice requirements, entitlement provisions, causation, cost substantiation, schedule impacts, and the calculation of recoverable amounts. A claim may contain a valid underlying issue but include overstated quantities, inadequately supported expenses, inappropriate cost allocation, or calculations that do not reflect the actual financial impact. Participants will learn how to separate the question of entitlement from the evaluation of quantum, assess the reliability of supporting evidence, and determine whether claimed amounts are reasonable, contractually recoverable, and attributable to the circumstances presented. This approach promotes consistency and reduces the risk of decisions based on assumptions or incomplete information.
A robust claims assessment process depends on the quality of project records and the ability to reconstruct events, decisions, instructions, and financial consequences. Participants will examine how to review contracts, correspondence, site records, progress reports, approved variations, timesheets, invoices, cost ledgers, programmes, and payment certificates to establish a defensible factual basis. The course also explores methods for identifying inconsistencies between narrative submissions and supporting documents, tracing costs to specific events, and distinguishing contemporaneous evidence from retrospective estimates. These techniques help assessors determine which elements of a claim are adequately substantiated and where further clarification or independent verification is necessary.
The financial evaluation of claims requires disciplined analysis of direct costs, indirect costs, prolongation expenses, disruption impacts, acceleration costs, financing charges, and other potentially recoverable amounts. Participants will learn how to assess claimed labour, equipment, materials, subcontractor costs, site overheads, and time-related expenditure while checking for duplication, unsupported markups, and inappropriate allocations. The programme considers different approaches to quantification, including actual-cost analysis, comparison with approved budgets, measured productivity impacts, and evaluation of reasonable cost records. It also emphasizes the importance of applying contractual provisions, applicable legal requirements, and agreed valuation methodologies rather than assuming that every incurred expense is automatically recoverable.
Effective financial claims assessment also requires an understanding of delay, causation, concurrent events, mitigation, and the relationship between schedule performance and financial consequences. Participants will explore how project events may affect entitlement to additional payment, the duration of compensable impacts, and the reliability of claimed cost calculations. Particular attention is given to distinguishing costs caused by a particular event from ordinary project expenditure, inefficiencies arising from unrelated circumstances, and losses that may already be covered by other contractual mechanisms. The course introduces structured approaches for reviewing claim narratives, evaluating assumptions, assessing uncertainty, and documenting the reasoning behind accepted, adjusted, or rejected claim components.
By completing the course, participants will be better equipped to review financial claims consistently, quantify potential liabilities, negotiate evidence-based settlements, and maintain clear records of assessment decisions. They will develop practical methods for preparing claim evaluation reports, managing information requests, identifying commercial exposure, and escalating complex issues to legal, technical, scheduling, or financial specialists when appropriate. The programme supports stronger contract administration, improved cost forecasting, more informed dispute resolution, and better protection of project financial interests. Its overall focus is on achieving fair, transparent, and well-supported claim outcomes while reducing unnecessary conflict, financial uncertainty, and avoidable project losses.
Duration
5 days
Who Should Attend
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Project managers responsible for evaluating claims, managing commercial exposure, and protecting project financial performance.
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Commercial managers assessing contractual entitlements, additional payment requests, and disputed financial obligations.
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Contract administrators reviewing notices, variations, compensation events, claims documentation, and contractual compliance.
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Quantity surveyors responsible for claim quantification, cost verification, valuation, and commercial recommendations.
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Project accountants analysing claimed costs, financial records, expenditure allocations, and potential project liabilities.
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Cost engineers assessing cost impacts, productivity losses, budget variances, and additional expenditure.
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Planning and scheduling professionals supporting the assessment of delay-related financial claims.
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Claims consultants involved in preparing, reviewing, negotiating, or resolving project financial claims.
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Construction managers and site engineers verifying site events, work records, resource deployment, and supporting evidence.
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Procurement and supply chain professionals reviewing subcontractor claims, supplier charges, and additional cost requests.
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Finance managers responsible for evaluating contingent liabilities, financial exposure, and claim-related reporting.
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Legal and contract professionals requiring a practical understanding of financial claim valuation and substantiation.
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Project controls specialists coordinating cost, schedule, progress, and commercial information for claim assessment.
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Internal auditors and risk managers reviewing claims controls, financial evidence, and exposure to unsupported payments.
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Project directors and senior executives making decisions on significant claims, settlement recommendations, and dispute strategies.
Course Objectives
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Establish a structured financial claims assessment methodology that integrates contractual entitlement, factual evidence, causation, quantum, and applicable approval requirements.
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Interpret relevant contractual clauses, notice provisions, valuation rules, and payment mechanisms to identify the conditions governing potential financial recovery.
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Evaluate claim documentation using contracts, correspondence, site records, cost reports, schedules, invoices, and other contemporaneous project evidence.
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Distinguish contractual entitlement from financial quantification to ensure that claimed amounts are assessed only after the applicable recovery basis is established.
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Verify direct costs, indirect costs, prolongation expenses, disruption costs, acceleration charges, and other claimed amounts using appropriate financial analysis techniques.
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Identify duplicated expenditure, unsupported markups, inappropriate cost allocations, inconsistent calculations, and amounts potentially recoverable through other mechanisms.
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Assess the financial implications of delay, disruption, variations, concurrent events, mitigation measures, and changes in project execution conditions.
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Develop transparent claim evaluation reports that document findings, assumptions, evidence gaps, calculations, adjustments, and recommendations for decision-makers.
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Apply structured negotiation and settlement evaluation techniques to compare claim positions, quantify exposure, and support commercially reasonable resolutions.
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Strengthen claims governance through consistent review procedures, reliable recordkeeping, risk escalation, and integration with project cost and financial reporting systems.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Fundamentals of Project Financial Claims Assessment
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Understanding the purpose, scope, and principles of financial claims assessment in construction, infrastructure, engineering, and other project environments.
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Distinguishing contractual claims, variations, compensation events, payment applications, loss-and-expense submissions, and other financial requests.
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Examining the relationship between contractual entitlement, causation, supporting evidence, quantum, and the assessment of recoverable amounts.
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Identifying common claims assessment failures, including incomplete records, inconsistent assumptions, duplicated costs, and unsupported financial conclusions.
Module 2: Contractual Entitlement and Claims Requirements
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Reviewing contract conditions, payment clauses, variation provisions, delay remedies, compensation mechanisms, and relevant risk allocation requirements.
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Assessing contractual notice periods, submission deadlines, prescribed claim formats, substantiation requirements, and procedural compliance.
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Establishing whether the alleged event or instruction falls within a contractual mechanism that may permit additional payment.
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Evaluating the effect of contractual limitations, exclusions, mitigation obligations, caps, and other provisions relevant to financial recovery.
Module 3: Claims Documentation and Evidence Evaluation
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Organizing contracts, correspondence, site diaries, instructions, progress reports, meeting minutes, and other records into a traceable evidence file.
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Reviewing invoices, payroll records, equipment logs, material receipts, subcontractor submissions, and cost ledgers for reliability and completeness.
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Comparing the chronology of project events with claim narratives to identify inconsistencies, missing records, and unsupported assumptions.
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Establishing evidence registers, document references, clarification requests, and verification procedures that support a transparent assessment process.
Module 4: Claim Quantification and Cost Verification
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Assessing labour, plant, equipment, materials, subcontractor charges, and other direct costs attributed to the event under review.
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Reviewing site overheads, head-office overheads, prolongation expenses, financing costs, and other indirect cost components where contractually relevant.
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Verifying quantities, rates, resource hours, cost allocations, markups, escalation adjustments, and supporting calculations against reliable records.
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Identifying duplicated recovery, ordinary business costs, unrelated expenditure, unsupported estimates, and other amounts requiring adjustment or exclusion.
Module 5: Delay, Disruption, and Prolongation Claims
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Examining how delay events, extensions of time, access restrictions, late information, and changes in work sequencing may affect financial entitlement.
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Reviewing the relationship between critical-path impacts, affected activities, extended site duration, and claimed time-related costs.
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Evaluating disruption claims through productivity records, resource utilization, work sequencing, labour hours, and appropriate comparative evidence.
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Assessing mitigation measures, concurrent events, overlapping cost periods, and alternative causes that may influence the recoverable financial amount.
Module 6: Variation Claims and Additional Work Valuation
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Assessing whether instructed or alleged changes qualify as variations, compensation events, or other contractually recognized adjustments.
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Comparing changed work with original contract scope, bills of quantities, agreed rates, schedule-of-rates provisions, and relevant valuation rules.
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Evaluating new rates, additional quantities, design changes, substitutions, omitted work, and related cost or schedule consequences.
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Reconciliating variation submissions with approved change registers, interim valuations, previous payments, and existing contractual entitlements.
Module 7: Financial Analysis, Reconciliation, and Claim Testing
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Reconstructing the claimed financial position using baseline budgets, cost reports, transaction records, approved commitments, and actual expenditure.
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Applying actual-cost analysis, measured-work comparisons, productivity assessments, and other suitable methods to test the reliability of claimed amounts.
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Conducting sensitivity checks on disputed quantities, resource rates, duration assumptions, markups, and alternative calculation methods.
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Reconciling accepted, disputed, unsupported, and previously compensated amounts to determine a defensible assessment range.
Module 8: Claims Risk, Liability, and Commercial Exposure
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Identifying potential project liabilities arising from contractual disputes, prolonged negotiations, unresolved variations, and outstanding compensation requests.
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Evaluating the financial consequences of claim acceptance, partial settlement, rejection, continued dispute, or escalation to formal proceedings.
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Developing claim risk registers that document potential exposure, confidence levels, evidence weaknesses, decision deadlines, and mitigation actions.
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Integrating claim exposure with project forecasts, contingency assessments, cash flow projections, financial reporting, and management escalation procedures.
Module 9: Claims Negotiation, Settlement, and Dispute Resolution
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Preparing evidence-based negotiation positions that distinguish established facts, contractual interpretations, disputed issues, and quantifiable financial impacts.
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Evaluating settlement proposals against assessed entitlement, supporting evidence, litigation or dispute costs, time implications, and commercial priorities.
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Developing structured responses to claims, including requests for information, partial acceptance, counter-assessments, and reasoned rejection of unsupported items.
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Maintaining negotiation records, settlement approvals, release documentation, and decision trails consistent with contractual and organizational requirements.
Module 10: Claims Reporting, Governance, and Continuous Improvement
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Preparing formal assessment reports with executive summaries, contractual analysis, evidence findings, calculation schedules, limitations, and recommendations.
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Establishing review checklists, approval responsibilities, segregation of duties, escalation thresholds, and quality assurance procedures for claims assessment.
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Using claims registers, digital document systems, financial dashboards, and issue tracking tools to improve visibility and control.
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Developing lessons-learned processes that improve recordkeeping, early warning practices, cost forecasting, contract administration, and future claims prevention.
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.
