ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to encourage a more systematic approach to the matter of claims. This clearly gives the Contractor the opportunity of falling back on to his Common Law rights. Conversely, the written terms of a contract can also be drafted so as to give one party a greater degree of protection than would be available to him at Common Law. The chapter is challenged and there will almost certainly be areas that will be affected by future decisions of the Courts. Contractors often overlook this limitation to their Common Law remedy when suggesting that an ascertainment of loss and/or expense is inequitable, in that it may not fully cover their costs. They tend to overlook that there is another party to the Contract, the Employer, who could not reasonably be expected to have entered into an Agreement in which his slightest stumble might bring an unheralded claim for reimbursement.
