Contract at Large

[General Manager]

i would be pleased to receive comments on the following, can the client issue non completion certificate if the contract is "at large"

[D.H.A.]

General Manager

with all due repsect. I, and other posters stand a better chance of winning the lottery than advising on this one

What does your contract say ? Why do you consider the Contract to be at Large ? What works are outstanding ? My questions could go on ad nausea

There are several possible answers to this, if you Google the question you will have some reading I would imagine - but for a case and project specific answer, I doubt you will find an answer here, sorry

This is one for your QS / Legals I suggest

[rumpole]

I thought that the issuing of the non completion cert means that the contract is now not at large.

The contract is at large when no cert has been issued and no LAD's have been notified.

So the issuing of the cert ends the "at large" issue?

[D.H.A.]

Hmmmm this depends on one's interpretation of " a Contract at Large"

I just rang a Solicitor friend of mine to see if my understanding is correct -- he is going check himslef ( I dont feel so bad now )
Anyway, I will wait until he gets back before I embarass myself with an incorrect response. ( sorry another .... )



and the answer is ........

Quote .............

Time at large

If a contract has no fixed completion date then there is an obligation on the party undertaking the works to complete them in a reasonable time. In the industry this is sometimes known by the term ‘time is at large’.

The contractor’s obligation to complete within a reasonable time is a question that often leads to disagreement and sometimes leads to debate.

Time can also become at large if the contract has a fixed completion date but the employer causes delay to the contractor, eg by ordering extra work and there is no extension of time clause in the contract or there is such a clause but it is not properly operated by the employer/architect or does not apply to the delaying event in question. In these circumstances both parties are best advised to try to agree the extended completion date as soon as possible after the act.

End quote


My understanding was the latter, but was unaware of the former

[rumpole]

DHA,

Yep great response the latter ties in with my understanding that now the CA has issued a non comp cert, then there must be a date which has not been achieved therefore time is not at large...

[General Manager]

very interesting reading, i am away to contact "my brief" to be continued

[D.H.A.]

Found this link in reference to above

http://www.brewerconsulting.co.uk/cases/CJ0713RR.htm

[General Manager]

Dear All

things have moved on now and i now have an extion of time award plus a certificate of non completion, therefore i think we are now at large. strangly we are still receivng Architects Instruction which i need to know am i duty bound to carry out the works on the AI now a non completion has been issued>any help

GM

[Charlie Paynter]

(10-12-2010 11:01 PM)General Manager Wrote:  Dear All

things have moved on now and i now have an extion of time award plus a certificate of non completion, therefore i think we are now at large. strangly we are still receivng Architects Instruction which i need to know am i duty bound to carry out the works on the AI now a non completion has been issued>any help

GM

DHA was correct insofar your contract needs to be looked at and the general circumstances surrounding the particular matter at hand.

That said, with an EoT and a Certificate of Non Completion, I fail to see how time can possibly be at large? If the EoT has extended the completion date to (say), 1 December 2010, the Architect's Certificate of Non Completion is merely a statement that you have failed to complete the work by the Completion Date (or any date extended thereof). What is therefore 'at large'?

If no Certificate of Practical Completion has yet been isued, of course the Architect can issue AI's. Further, even where those AI's are for net additional work, unless the work is on the critical path, you will not be entitled to any further time (see my article at: http://www.michael-gerard.co.uk/blog/bri...t-delay/).

[Douglang]

We are in a situation as consultants where a project has been declared at large due to delays on the part of the employer. Several contract extensions have been given, but the most recent has lapsed.

Having declared the construction contract to be "at large", ongoing consultancy services have been suspended and the project managers are refusing to make any further payments for services up to the end of the last extension. Is there any justification for withholding consultancy for services prior to the contract being at large?