Profiling of extension of time cases in Malaysian construction projects

Abstract

In the construction industry, disputes commonly happen because of the elements of competitive nature, complexity, and comprehensive contractual requirements of the construction projects. Delay and over costing are widespread occurrences in the construction industry. The nature of construction delays is such that they do not arise because of a single event, but rather because of a series of events that occur over time during the construction process. To account for this possibility, a competent construction contract must include clauses relating to Extension of Time (EOT) which allows a construction project’s completion date to be changed while protecting the client. However, according to the National Construction Contracts and Law Report 2018, EOT is the most common issue being disputed. The two objectives of this research are to develop a profile of EOT cases in Malaysian construction projects and to determine the commonalities between the issues contributing to the disputes regarding EOT in Malaysian construction projects. The purpose of this study is to help contractors and employers better grasp their legal rights in disputes relating to EOT. The methodology used in the study is qualitative research using legal case analysis to study the court cases collected from the LexisNexis database. Fifteen cases were identified to be relevant for the discussion of the time extension issues. The findings of this research are categorized into elements of a profile of cases. It was found that there was an uptrend in the number of cases from the year 2012 to 2022, an even distribution of parties involved in the dispute between Client-Main Contractor and Main Contractor-Subcontractor, the construction phase being the most common time of conflict in the disputes, and Main Contractor being the usual party to hold liability in the disputes. Apart from that, the commonalities between the disputes which become an obstacle in claiming for EOT are delay in the performance of work by the contractor, changes in working orders by the client, termination during the construction phase, prolongation, acceleration, and the contractor’s lack of attention to requirements of EOT application. The importance of the findings is to facilitate the construction players to understand through the profile of cases, the common issues in granting EOTs, the disputes related to it, and, to facilitate the preparation of the risk management or assessment before going into a contract or before going into a dispute.