Record the cost of an urgent fix for delayed materials
Document scope, cost and approval of proposed acceleration or substitution after a materials delay.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
Reducing the delay can create another disagreement
Materials are late and the builder asks you to bring in extra labour or arrange express freight. Establish the proposed work and its cost before treating the request as agreed. An urgent effort to recover the programme can leave a separate dispute if nobody records who authorised it, what it covers or how the additional cost will be handled.
Imagine a mechanical contractor offered airfreight for a delayed component. Identify the item, delivery estimate and extra charge, then check whether the earlier arrival actually allows installation. Crew availability, access and inspections may still affect the programme. Do not promise recovered days based solely on the freight company's estimate without checking the site's practical requirements.
business.gov.au recommends documenting contract variations, including what changes and the effect on scope, cost and timing. Check the project-specific process with your adviser. A verbal instruction from site staff may need further confirmation. Make clear what is proposed and seek the necessary agreement rather than assuming the urgency determines who must pay.
Compare the option with doing the work under the current programme, and identify any cost that would arise in either case. In the mechanical example, normal freight already included in the price should not be forgotten when explaining the additional cost. Ask the accountant or project manager to check the calculation so the request is understandable.
If the option is agreed and carried out, retain the supplier invoice, delivery evidence, labour records and updated programme information. Note any difference from the estimate and raise it through the appropriate process. Do not treat an approved budget as proof that every later expense falls within the agreed change. Keep the scope and actual work connected.
Ask the adviser how to describe the proposal without creating unintended admissions about the original delay charge. Reducing disruption and accepting liability are not necessarily the same commercial decision. Keep both issues explicit in the records. The aim is a practical, properly documented response that reduces uncertainty rather than adding another disputed invoice to an already difficult project.
