atstraffic.ca | Since 1966
MASH COMPLIANT
REPAIRABLE AFTER IMPACT
CONNECTIBLE WITH ANY BARRIER
Contact us for more information.
T 800.661.7346
E info@atstraffic.ca
CRASH CUSHION
DELIVERED ALREADY ASSEMBLED
MODULAR, NON-GATING, STEEL DESIGN
MAXIMUM SAFETY
FOR HEAVY VEHICLES
continue to evolve – including possible
future waves and governmental action.
As a result, obvious and obscure
clauses have come to the forefront as
parties issue and receive claims for
additional money and time linked to
the COVID-19 pandemic. This has also
forced stakeholders to engage in frontend
dialogue on issues such as project
structuring, pricing, scheduling, occupational
health and safety, changes in law
protection, force majeure remedies, suspension
rights and termination rights.
What follows are insights on key
points that parties may wish to look for
in construction contract clauses dealing
with the pandemic, as well as potential
considerations when addressing existing
disputes and those to come. Firms
should use this to assist as they navigate
concerns, address potential risks to business
and, ultimately, strategize for the
new normal.
Contracting and construction
How is COVID-19 addressed? For contracts
finalized pre-COVID-19, the
impacts of the pandemic are most commonly
captured by the existing force
majeure clause. However, it is imperative
for parties issuing or addressing
pandemic-related claims to identify all
of the possible clauses throughout the
contract that may be triggered, not just
the force majeure clause. For example,
governments and public health officials
have responded to the pandemic in a
number of ways, including by issuing
stop-work orders and new health and
safety requirements like physical distancing
and the use of PPE. This may
have contractual implications across a
number of different provisions within
many standard form contracts used in
the industry.
Since the start of the COVID-19
pandemic, there has been a trend in
industry towards moving COVID-19
out of the force majeure and other
clauses to its own section. This not
only makes contracts easier to administer,
but helps to clarify that there
are no other contractual remedies for
COVID-19 impacts except as set out in
the COVID-19 clause.
What are the contractual remedies?
Generally, from a contractor’s perspective,
there are two possible remedies
for these types of events: additional
C O N S T R U C T I O N L AW
Generally, from a contractor’s
perspective, there are two
possible remedies for these types
of events: additional time to
complete the work and additional
compensation for increased costs.
42 www.albertaheavy.ca
/atstraffic.ca
/www.albertaheavy.ca
link
