Delay and Disruption in Construction Contracts

Edited by Andrew Burr

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CHAPTER 15 Cause and effect

Introduction

15–001 The logic of causation by inference can be illustrated by a chain of causation of two events: where an event “A” which occurs prior to event “B” is such that, if “A”

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had not occurred, “B” would not have occurred1 and, in other circumstances, whenever “A” occurred it would always be succeeded by “B”, it can be said that “A” causes “B”. Causation by inference is not along the lines of “if it is raining, I will get wet; I am wet, therefore it is raining”2 or, to put it in construction terms, “variations cause delay; a variation has been instructed, the work is delayed, therefore the instructed variation has caused the delay”. The fundamental flaw in such reasoning is that not all variations cause delay and not all delays are caused by variations. Therefore the inference that one must always have caused the other is manifestly false.

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