Difficulties Associated with the Administration of Substantial/ Practical Completion of Construction Works

Abstract

Substantial Completion, one of the major milestones along a construction project’s timeline, can cause a lot of disputes and conflicting stances between the parties of a construction contract. The process of certifying substantial completion is not as easy and direct as it may sound. Several disputes related to delays, liquidated damages, and statute of limitation that usually arise through a construction project’s timeline have a direct relation with the date of substantial completion. Parties in such cases usually fall into further disagreements regarding the date of substantial completion of the work. This is usually due to the poor administration of the substantial completion certification stage in the contract where no proper definition, certification process, or guidelines for certification are present. Thus, this research aims at helping parties of a contract properly administer the substantial completion stage in an attempt to reduce the different disputes that could arise out of debating such a date. To do so, a literature review along with case law and standard contract forms review was conducted. A framework for the proper administration of the substantial completion stage was produced. This framework includes a model substantial completion certification timeframe that embraces the best criteria and time baring of each step deduced from the different standard forms of contract studied. It also includes a list of guidelines, general and related to punch list formation, which shall give the parties an idea of the needed criteria to be known during the certification process, during the project’s construction, and when building the contract. Moreover, the framework includes a checklist of several questions or information to be read and understood by the parties in conjunction with the guidelines and timeframe produced to strengthen their knowledge of the substantial completion stage. Thus, if the parties are able to follow such a framework, they might have a smoother certification process with a properly built and acceptable punch list that can reduce the different disputes which might arise from the poor administration of substantial completion or that rely on the accurate determination of the substantial completion date to be resolved.