Control of the works

The contract administrator’s duties to the employer are normally set out in an appointment document, frequently on a standard form produced by one of the professional institutions. The contract administrator’s role within the construction contract, however, is to be determined solely from the construction contract terms. The contractor is required to keep a competent ‘Site Manager’ on the site ‘at all material times’. Failure by the contract administrator to comply with any obligation will constitute failure on the part of the employer tantamount to breach of contract. The information and instructions should ‘be provided at the time the Contractor reasonably requires them, having regard to the progress of the Works’. The contract administrator may instruct the contractor to open up completed work for inspection, or arrange for testing of any of the work or materials, fixed or unfixed.