GYK Newsletter – Identifying “the Cause” of the Claim Event

Welcome to the new issue of Grow Your Knowledge Newsletter where you get free, ready to use, actionable, clear information regarding FIDIC Contracts and Construction Claims.

---

Today at a Glance;

➤   Term of the Week

➤   One Tweet

➤   Identifying the Cause of the Claim Event

---

TERM of the WEEK 

---

ONE TWEET 

---

Happy Thursday.

*

Your claim will fail if you cannot clearly determine the cause of the claim event.

Additionally, without identifying the cause you cannot develop the correct link between the;

➤ Claim event and the damage or delay

in other words;

➤ Cause and effect

*

Is it difficult to identify the cause?

Not exactly;

➤ if you focus on getting the answers to the right questions

*

You may focus on these;

Question #1: How can I IDENTIFY the POSSIBLE EVENTS?

Question #2: How can I ELIMINATE the IRRELEVANT EVENTS?

Question #3: How can I ESTABLISH the LINK between the EVENT and the DAMAGE or DELAY?

*

And, here are the answers.

Answer #1: Identifying the POSSIBLE EVENTS

You should carry out a fact-finding exercise.

This exercise is an opportunity to clarify the relevant facts.

Mostly you don’t have all the relevant information.

With specific questions, you should obtain all the information required.

In addition to problem-solving, you should have the ability to carry out searches carefully.

After finding the high-level facts, you should identify the possible events attributable to the damage or delay.

*

Answer #2: Eliminating the IRRELEVANT EVENTS

The “but for” test is a valuable tool for elimination.

It is a well-known measure of factual causation.

The test asks the question;

➤ “If “Event A” hadn’t occurred, would the damage or delay have happened?“

for every possible event.

And, if the answer is no, the event caused the damage or delay.

However, you should keep in mind that there may be instances where the “but for” test is inadequate.

*

Answer #3: Establishing the LINK between the EVENT and the DAMAGE or DELAY

You should clearly check the;

➤ Interlink, and,

➤ Interdependency 

between the events. 

As a result, you can find the underlying issue and determine the effective cause.

See you next week.

 

This information is provided for your convenience and does not constitute any “Legal Advice”. This document is prepared for the general information of the interested persons. This should not be acted upon in any specific situation without appropriate legal advice.

This information may not be reproduced or translated without the prior written permission of eayglobal.com

For further information please contact eay@eayglobal.com