Given the few weeks we’ve had, I thought todays topic to be relevant. Weather! We all talk about it. When its great we are happy, when its not we are not! Especially if you are mid construction, and apart from seeing work delayed you’re anxious about the effect on the building that is getting soaked!

On the second point, there’s not too much to be concerned about here if you are in the early framing stage, and the roof is not on, as most materials at this stage can deal with water (as long as they have the chance to dry out over time, which they usually will at this stage). What we don’t want is any finishing elements to be affected by extreme weather. This is not usually the case unless there is a building failure as most dwellings are at lock up before finishing trades begin.

On the second point. The delay effect of extreme weather on the overall project program, in some part, depends on what is written into the contract agreement.

Inclement weather is inevitable from time to time, no one expects trades to work in the pouring rain, but all clients will expect diligence concerning time performance of their head contractor. All of which is perfectly reasonable.

Any good building contract should acknowledge this, and make allowance for a certain amount of rainy days before the overall critical path of the project can be affected and delay claims made by the contractor. Making this allowance upfront limits constant claims by the builder for time extensions, saving on administration costs and gives the client some piece of mind that every time it rains it does not necessarily mean their project will be delayed.

By example, we have incorporated 4 weeks of rain delay into the overall program for this project which is written into the building contract. Meaning it can rain for 4 weeks over the course of the project timeframe, without the builder being able to claim a delay due to weather. This does not disadvantage the builder as it would have been built into their program from the start. It is not until this timeframe has been reached that delays due to weather can be claimed.

No one can predict how many days will be lost due to weather and this of course depends on the overall timeframe of the build. But making some allowance does alleviate the anxiety of delay and manages clients expectations.

Image to the left of a very wet site this week.

I’ll end this week with a favourite little cartoon concerning weather from our good friends at ‘Family Guy’, see link below :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9fhxa8yFb0