March 16, 2020 6:19 pm Published by Andrew Berne |

With the spread of coronavirus, its impact on construction projects will increase. One of the most wide-spread impacts will be to the supply chain for materials.  Some critical materials will be delayed in delivery but still available. Others may not be available at all for the project. Some manufacturers have shut down production. Other goods are or will be held in some place in the transportation chain.

In the face of such challenges the project team, including the design team and owner, will need to be proactive to identify such pending or potential delays and explore alternative materials, designs, etc. that will allow the work to proceed.  There will likely be time and cost impacts to the project.  The parties will need to review their contracts that allocate risks for such events. Most contracts include a force majeure clause that provide for time extensions and allowance for additional costs of performance. Force majeure is an event or effect that can be neither anticipated nor controlled.

The parties should promptly give notice of the potential impacts of the coronavirus and then work diligently and collaboratively to find workable solutions to mitigate the time and cost impacts to the project. Project documentation and communication should confirm the potential impacts and decisions being made to address the potential impacts including changes being made in the design and materials as part of the solutions. If you would like to discuss the particulars of your specific project, please feel free to give us a call.