Keith Hogg

Subcontractors’ liability for project delay

The normal way of dealing with damages for delay in a construction contract is to use a Liquidated and Ascertained Damages clause. Such clauses specify a preset sum to be due to the client for every day, week or month by which the contractor fails to meet the works completion date. However, the greater part of the value of construction work is actually carried out by subcontractors, and there is little or no published evidence as to how their contractual responsibilities for delays are determined and pursued. Theoretically, there are a number of possibilities (none of which is entirely satisfactory to both parties) and the logic and implications of each is discussed. A survey was conducted to discover the methods that are actually used, their incidence, and whether it was possible to relate the different approaches to the attributes of particular subcontractors or to specific situations. The most commonly encountered approach was for subcontract damages to be based upon a proportion of those set under the...

An analysis of early career training requirements for quantity surveying professionals

Early career experience can play a significant part in lifelong professional capability and the support and knowledge gained during the early years of graduate employment can influence future career direction and success. Whilst there are prescribed models of graduate development relative to the surveying professions, for example, those relating to the APC utilised by the RICS, there has been little evaluation in terms of their relative contribution to career success. Through the use of a questionnaire survey, the issue of learning and development for new graduates in their early career, the extent to which new graduates perceive themselves to be competent in various major quantity surveying activities and, the range of graduate training provided by the employer were explored. The main conclusions drawn from the study are that: new graduates exhibit a high level of self-doubt in professional competence; task competence is influenced by frequency of application, years of postgraduate experience and the mode of study taken by graduates in entering the QS profession. There is a difference between training received by graduates working for consultant and contracting employers. Graduates from full time study mode tend to receive more training from their employers compared to part time graduates.