Global Claims: An Overview

Abstract

On large projects, it is not unusual to encounter a great number of causes of delays and disruptions and contractors suffering financial losses that run into millions of dollars. Some of these causes can be treated in isolation and their effects can be evaluated and proved; inevitably, and no matter what records the contractor maintains, others cannot and must be treated globally. A claimant would make myriad complaints of things that had delayed him. Generalised complaints, very often presented as global claims, would be made about delays and disruptions, causation and damages. The question of whether or not a party is free to make a global claim is one which has long been exercised by the courts. However, in recent years, a number of time and money claims have failed entirely; one of the main reasons for this was that claims were pursued being on a global basis without any systematic analysis and justification or proper calculation of losses. Presenting a global claim and its calculation are fundamental to its acceptance by the courts and its success and therefore understanding causation and the courts approach and attitude is essential for claimants pursuing this kind of claims. The principles, causation, limitations and the advocation of global claims are described in detail in this chapter where each of the mentioned is backed up by case law.