Recording weather days so a delay claim holds up
November, on a six-storey concrete frame: three days of freezing rain stop the deck crew, and on the fourth day the crane stands down for wind. In March, the owner's consultant answers your request for more time with two questions: whether those days were worse than a normal November, and whether they stopped the work that sets the finish date.
Weather is a delay only as your contract defines it. Some contracts give time only for unusual weather, and only when it stops the work that drives completion. The US Army Corps of Engineers, for example, sets the expected bad-weather days for each month from historical records and requires the schedule to allow for them, counts a day only when weather stops critical work for at least half the scheduled working day, and gives time only for days beyond the expected number. The standard default clause in US federal fixed-price construction contracts excuses delay caused by unusually severe weather only if the contractor gives written notice of the causes within 10 days of the delay beginning, unless the contracting officer extends that time.
What to record on each weather day
- Read the weather clause before the season turns: what counts as a weather day, how normal weather is allowed for in the schedule, and what notice is due and when.
- Record conditions at set times, at least at the start of shift and midday — temperature, precipitation, wind, the state of the ground or deck — with a timed photo.
- Record what stopped: the activities, whether they were critical, the crews and equipment standing by, and the times work stopped and restarted.
- Record the days after. Pumping, drying and snow clearing can keep the ground unworkable after the weather has passed.
- Give notice in the form and time the contract sets, as its own letter. Do not assume a daily report or schedule narrative counts.
- Keep a monthly tally of weather days against the contract's allowance, with the nearest official station's record. In Canada, historical daily weather data can be searched online by station name, province or location.
Checklist
On every day weather affects the work
- Conditions and timed photos at start of shift and midday
- Times work stopped and restarted
- Activities stopped, and whether they were critical
- Crews and equipment standing by
- Notice sent as the contract requires
- Running tally against the monthly allowance
Check your understanding
A storm stops your landscaping crew for two days but touches nothing on the critical path. Should you still record it?
