When owners and contractors battle at the conclusion of a project that has been delayed, owners try to impose liquidated or actual damages, and contractors allege concurrent delay. The contractor’s position in these cases is often that the owner delayed the project at the same time the contractor did, and so some of the damages for late completion are not the contractor’s fault. Concurrent delay claims or arguments are not usually made until after the project is finished, because owners don’t claim damages for late completion until the project ends.
This session by expert speakers Emily Federico and James G. Zack, Jr. will explore the mechanisms of these arguments based on recent court rulings that owners have used to defeat a contractor’s concurrent delay defense. Emily and James will define the term “concurrent delay,” discuss the background of today’s concurrent delay doctrine in U.S. law, explore three recent court cases—two federal and the third state—that provide owners some defenses, and offer practical advice to owners and contractors when dealing with the issue of concurrent delay.