Most construction claims fail on the same four points rather than on the merits. Whether the claim is for time, money, defective work or professional negligence, it has to establish entitlement, causation, quantification and compliance with the contract's procedure.
Claims under a building contract are routine. What is not routine is proving one. A claim that is obviously right on site can still fail because nobody identified the clause it arises under, because the loss was never separated from the loss caused by something else, because the figure was a lump sum with no build-up behind it, or because a notice went out three weeks late. This article sets out what each of the common claims has to establish, and where each of them is dealt with in more detail.
The four questions every claim answers
Whatever the claim is about, the same four questions decide it.
Entitlement. Which clause, or which principle of general law, gives you the right to what you are asking for? A claim that a situation is unfair is not a claim. A claim that clause 12 obliges the employer to grant an extension of time on the occurrence of a defined event is.
Causation. Did the matter you complain of actually cause the effect you are claiming for? This is where delay claims and loss and expense claims are usually lost. Where two or more causes operated at once, the claim must deal with that openly rather than ignoring it.
Quantification. What is the figure, and how is it built up? Time is proved against a programme. Money is proved against records: invoices, timesheets, plant returns, valuations. A round number with nothing behind it invites a round number in response.
Procedure. Did you do what the contract required you to do, within the time it required? Notice provisions are the single most common reason a good claim is met with a technical answer.
Claims for time
A contractor's claim for an extension of time asks for the completion date to be moved because of an event the contract treats as excusable. It has to identify the event, show it is one the clause covers, show its effect on the completion date, and comply with the notice machinery. An extension of time protects the contractor against liquidated damages for the extended period. It does not, by itself, produce any money.
The mechanics of the application, the prevention principle and concurrency are covered in Extensions of Time in Cyprus Construction Contracts. If a delay has just materialised on your project, the immediate steps are in Construction Delays: What to Do in the First Two Weeks, and the full treatment of delay disputes, including evidence and forum, is in Delay Claims in Cyprus Construction Contracts.
Claims for money arising from delay and disruption
A loss and expense claim is separate from an extension of time and has to be proved separately. Prolongation costs are the time-related costs of remaining on site longer: site establishment, supervision, plant and accommodation, over the period of the excusable delay. Disruption is different again: it is the loss of productivity caused by working out of sequence, and it is proved by comparing planned with actual output, not by asserting that the works became harder.
The employer's mirror claim is for the loss caused by late completion. Where the contract fixes a liquidated damages rate, section 74(1) of the Contract Law, Cap. 149 applies. It entitles the injured party, even where actual damage or loss is not proved, to reasonable compensation not exceeding the sum named in the contract. The rate is therefore a ceiling on recovery rather than a figure that follows automatically from late completion. Where there is no such clause, the employer claims general damages and must prove its actual loss in the ordinary way.
Claims for variations
A variation claim asks to be paid for work that was instructed but was not in the original scope. It has to show that the work was outside the contract scope, that it was instructed by somebody with authority to instruct it, and that it has been valued on the basis the contract prescribes. Where there is no concluded agreement on price at all, or where a contract has been partly performed and then brought to an end, a claim for a reasonable sum for the work actually done may be available instead, as the Supreme Court accepted in Marios Kyriakou and another v. A/foi M & K Michael, Civil Appeal 203/2015, 1 February 2024. Both are dealt with in Variations Under a Cyprus Construction Contract.
Claims for defective work
A defects claim has to establish the standard promised, the departure from it, the cause, and the reasonable cost of putting it right. The distinguishing feature of these claims is that they are almost always decided on expert evidence rather than on correspondence. Defects, defects liability periods and the remedies available are covered in full in Building Defects in Cyprus: Legal Remedies.
Claims for unpaid certificates and work done
Where work has been carried out and certified but not paid for, the claim is a debt claim rather than a damages claim, and it is proved differently. Where the certifier has failed or refused to certify, or where work was done outside any concluded contract, the route is different again. This is dealt with in Getting Paid for Work Done.
Claims against consultants
A claim against an architect, engineer or quantity surveyor is a claim under their appointment. It has to establish the scope of the service they undertook, the standard the appointment required them to meet, the failure to meet it, and the loss caused. Because consultant appointments in Cyprus are often brief, the scope of the retainer is contested more often than the quality of the work.
Questions we are asked
What is the hardest of the four to prove?
Causation. On a project where several things are late at once, showing that this event produced this effect is the difficulty, not showing that the event happened.
Is it enough to claim a single global figure?
No. A lump sum with no build up behind it reads as an estimate and is discounted accordingly. Quantification is a build up, not a number.
What does a construction claim have to establish?
Four things, whatever the claim is about: entitlement, meaning the clause or principle of general law that gives the right to what is asked; causation, meaning that the matter complained of actually caused the effect claimed for; quantification, meaning a figure with a build-up behind it rather than a round number; and procedure, meaning compliance with what the contract required, within the time it required.
Why do most construction claims fail?
On those four points rather than on the merits. A claim that is obviously right on site can still fail because nobody identified the clause it arises under, because the loss was never separated from the loss caused by something else, because the figure was a lump sum with no build-up behind it, or because a notice went out three weeks late. Notice provisions are the single most common reason a good claim is met with a technical answer.
Is an extension of time the same as a claim for money?
No. An extension of time protects the contractor against liquidated damages for the extended period and does not, by itself, produce any money. A loss and expense claim is separate and has to be proved separately: prolongation costs against the period of excusable delay, and disruption by comparing planned with actual output, not by asserting that the works became harder.
How do liquidated damages work under Cyprus law?
Where the contract fixes a liquidated damages rate, section 74(1) of the Contract Law, Cap. 149 entitles the injured party, even where actual damage or loss is not proved, to reasonable compensation not exceeding the sum named in the contract. The rate is therefore a ceiling on recovery rather than a figure that follows automatically from late completion. Where there is no such clause, the employer must prove its actual loss in the ordinary way.
Can I be paid for work done where there was no concluded agreement on price?
A claim for a reasonable sum for the work actually done may be available, as the Supreme Court accepted in Marios Kyriakou and another v. A/foi M & K Michael, Civil Appeal 203/2015, 1 February 2024. The same route can apply where a contract has been partly performed and then brought to an end.
What to send us
The contract and its annexes, the programme and any revisions, the notices and correspondence for the period in issue, the payment certificates and valuations, and a short chronology in your own words. Advice given while a claim can still be shaped is worth considerably more than advice given after the position has been stated in a letter.
Construction claims sit within our construction practice, where our construction lawyers in Cyprus act for developers, main contractors, subcontractors and consultants. The contractual chain that determines who you claim against is set out in The Legal Structure of a Cyprus Construction Project.
Discuss your own situation with us
Related Reading
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws and their application can change, and individual circumstances differ. For advice on your own matter, contact Klitos Platis at klitos@kleanthousplatis.com or telephone +357 22 680 330.
Klitos Platis
Advocate, Partner
Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia · Revised 21 August 2026
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