Notice is the thing that kills claims
Contractors lose delay claims for two reasons. Occasionally, the claim was weak. Far more often, the claim was fine and notice was late.
Almost every construction contract contains a notice provision: if you intend to claim additional time or money, you must notify the other party in writing within a stated period after the event. Seven days and fourteen days are common. Some contracts say "promptly," which is worse, because it's arguable.
Courts and arbitrators enforce these clauses. A contractor with a well-documented, clearly meritorious delay claim who sent notice on day 21 of a 14-day window can lose entirely, on the notice point alone, without anyone reaching the merits.
The counterintuitive part: your notice clock usually starts when the delaying event occurs, not when you finish calculating the impact. People wait to send notice because they don't have the number yet. That's exactly backwards — send notice first, quantify later.
What a delay notice has to contain
Read your contract first; it may specify form, recipient and delivery method, and those requirements are enforced literally. Absent that, a notice needs:
- That it is a notice of delay. Say so explicitly. An email mentioning a problem is not notice. "This letter constitutes notice of delay under Section 8.3.2" is.
- The cause. Specific and factual. "Design clarification on the Level 3 mechanical layout has not been issued" rather than "design issues."
- The date the event occurred or began. This is what establishes you're inside the window.
- Who or what is responsible. Named, without editorializing.
- The work affected. Which activities, and where they sit on the schedule.
- A reservation of rights. That time and cost impacts are being evaluated and will follow. This is what preserves the claim while you calculate it.
- What you need to proceed. Give them something to act on — the RFI answer, the decision, the access.
A workable template
Notice of delay — RFI 042, Level 3 mechanical
Dana,
This letter constitutes notice of delay under Section 8.3.2 of our agreement.
RFI 042, submitted September 2, requested clarification of the Level 3 mechanical layout. As of today, September 14, no response has been issued. Mechanical rough-in on Level 3 cannot proceed without it, and that activity is on the critical path.
The affected work has been idle since September 9. Time and cost impacts are being evaluated and we will submit them under Section 8.3.3. We reserve all rights under the contract.
We need a response to RFI 042 to resume. Please advise when it will be issued.
— Mike
Five ways good claims get thrown out
| Mistake | Why it's fatal |
|---|---|
| Waiting for the full impact analysis | The window runs from the event, not from your calculation. You can send notice and quantify later; you can't un-miss the deadline. |
| Sending it to the wrong person | Many contracts name a specific recipient and a delivery method. Notice to a project manager when the contract says the owner's representative may not count. |
| Raising it verbally | "I told them on the call" is not written notice. It is also disputed. |
| Vague cause | "Various delays" gives the other side room to argue you never identified the event, which restarts the argument about whether notice was given at all. |
| Not reserving rights | Without a reservation, a notice describing a problem can be read as information rather than a claim. |
The habit that makes this survivable
The reason notices go out late isn't that PMs don't know the rule. It's that on day two of a delay you're still trying to solve it, and sending a formal notice feels like escalating a problem you expect to fix by Friday.
Then Friday comes, the problem isn't fixed, and you're on day nine of a fourteen-day window without having started.
Two things help. Know your notice period as a number — if you can't say "fourteen days" without opening the contract, look it up today and write it on the job's cover sheet. And treat notice as routine rather than adversarial: a notice sent on day two, with a note that you're working the problem and expect to resolve it, is not an act of war. It is what a competent contractor does.
The ones that damage relationships are the ones sent on day thirteen, after two weeks of silence, which read exactly like what they are.
Common questions
How long do I have to give notice of a construction delay?
It depends entirely on your contract. Seven and fourteen days after the delaying event are common, and some contracts require notice 'promptly,' which is vaguer and more dangerous. Find the number in your agreement before you need it — missing the window can waive the claim regardless of merit.
What has to be in a delay notice?
That it is formally a notice of delay with the contract section cited, the specific cause, the date the event began, who is responsible, the work affected, a reservation of rights while impacts are evaluated, and what you need in order to proceed.
Do I need to know the cost impact before sending notice?
No, and waiting for it is the most common way good claims get lost. The notice period usually runs from the delaying event, not from your analysis. Send notice stating that impacts are being evaluated, then submit the quantified claim under whatever provision governs it.
Is a verbal delay notice enough?
Almost never. Construction contracts overwhelmingly require written notice, often to a named recipient by a specified method. Telling someone on a call does not satisfy a written-notice requirement and is itself disputable.
Will sending a delay notice damage my relationship with the owner?
A notice sent early, factually, while you're visibly working the problem generally reads as competence. The ones that cause friction are the ones sent at the end of the window after weeks of silence, which look like a claim being built rather than a problem being flagged.
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See how it worksThis article is general information for contractors, not legal advice. Construction law and contract terms vary by state and by agreement. Talk to a construction attorney about your specific situation.