Delay claims are usually decided by what was done in the fortnight after the delay first appeared, not by what is argued two years later. These are the steps that preserve a position, for contractors and employers alike.
Almost every construction delay dispute is decided on material created in the first two weeks, before anybody involved thought of it as a dispute. Notices are given or missed, records are kept or not kept, and positions are stated in emails that are later read out in an arbitration. This article is about that fortnight. The law of delay claims, the evidence they require and the routes for resolving them are dealt with separately in Delay Claims in Cyprus Construction Contracts.
Step one: read the contract before writing anything
Not the whole contract. Four clauses.
The completion date and how it is fixed, including whether it runs from a stated date or from a period after possession of the site.
The extension of time clause: which events it covers, who applies, who decides, and within what period.
The notice provisions: what has to be given, to whom, in what form, and by when. Note whether the clause is drafted so that notice is a condition of entitlement.
The liquidated damages or delay compensation clause, and the rate.
Everything you do in the following fortnight is shaped by those four clauses. Acting first and reading afterwards is how entitlements are lost.
Step two: give notice, even if the picture is incomplete
The most common error a contractor makes is waiting until the effect of a delay can be fully quantified before notifying it. Notice periods generally run from the occurrence of the event or from the point at which its effect became apparent, not from the point at which you finished analysing it. A short notice given on time, identifying the event and reserving the position on its effect, is worth far more than a detailed submission sent a month late.
Give notice in the form the contract requires and to the person it names. An email to the site engineer is not notice to the employer if the clause says notice goes to the employer at a stated address. Where you are unsure whether the event qualifies, notify anyway and say that entitlement is reserved. There is no penalty for a notice that turns out to be unnecessary.
For an employer, the equivalent step is to respond promptly and precisely. Silence in the face of a delay notice is not neutral. If you consider the delay to be the contractor's own responsibility, say so in writing, give the reason, and reserve your rights under the delay clause rather than allowing the matter to drift.
Step three: fix the baseline
A delay claim is a comparison, and the comparison needs a starting point. Within the first fortnight, secure a copy of the contract programme in the form in which it was accepted, together with every revision issued since, and note the dates on which each was issued and by whom. If the programme was never formally accepted, record that fact now, in writing, because it will matter later.
Then record where the works actually stood on the day the delay appeared. Photographs with dates, the site diary, the last progress report and the last valuation will do. This takes an afternoon and it is the single most valuable thing either party can do in the first two weeks.
Step four: identify the cause honestly, including the awkward part
Write down what caused the delay and what else was happening at the same time. If the employer's information was late and the contractor was also short of labour, both belong in the note. Claims built on a partial account of the causes tend to collapse when the other side's records arrive, and a claim that acknowledges a concurrent cause from the outset is far harder to attack.
Step five: do not do these things
Do not agree a revised completion date in a site meeting without addressing whether it constitutes an extension of time, and without recording what happens to costs.
Do not stop work or suspend deliveries without checking whether the contract gives you that right. Wrongful suspension can convert a defensible position into a repudiatory breach.
Do not withhold payment as leverage unless the contract permits it and the correct procedure has been followed.
Do not send an open letter allocating blame in strong terms while the facts are still moving. It will be the first document produced against you.
Step six: take advice while the position is still open
The point at which advice changes the outcome is before the notices are drafted and before the first formal letter goes out. Two weeks in, everything is still recoverable. Two years in, the case is whatever the contemporaneous documents say it is.
What to send us
The contract and its annexes, the accepted programme and any revisions, every notice and item of correspondence about the delay, the site diary and progress reports for the relevant period, and a short chronology of what happened and when. We can usually tell you within a day whether your notice position is safe.
Delay disputes sit within our construction practice. The mechanics of applying for and assessing an extension of time are covered in Extensions of Time in Cyprus Construction Contracts, and the full treatment of delay claims, including evidence, limitation and forum, is in Delay Claims in Cyprus Construction Contracts.
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 4 August 2026
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