<p><strong>1.&nbsp;</strong>When we embarked on this book, we knew two things based on our collective decades of experience in construction law around the globe:<br />
a. many projects face delays and poor productivity and often the bigger the project or the more cutting-edge it is, the greater the risk of<br />
delay and disruption and, for the same reason, the greater the financial implications for contractors (and their supply chain) and<br />
employers; and<br />
b. legal issues pertinent to dealing effectively with issues of delay and disruption are often not fully understood by relevant stakeholders and that increases the risk of disputes.&nbsp;<br />
<strong>2.</strong>&nbsp;Given the importance of these issues, we set out to write a book on the management of delay and disruption from the inception of a project through to the resolution of claims in the project&#39;s aftermath. We further aimed to present all aspects of delay and disruption from legal and technical perspectives and drafted the book so that it would be accessible to all readers, from individuals starting to learn about delay and disruption to well-seasoned practitioners. We hope that you, the reader, will agree that we have achieved our objectives.<br />
<strong>3.</strong>&nbsp;What we did not know when we were drafting the book was that in 2020, right before publication, the world would face unprecedented circumstances brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and that government reactions to this challenge would significantly impact the construction sector (like many others). Supply chains are in disarray, cash flow has dried up and physical construction is marred by the inherent challenges arising from the pandemic. Accordingly, projects around the world are wallowing in delay and suffering from low productivity. This book therefore could not be more topical.<br />
<strong>4.</strong>&nbsp;This book is divided into 15 chapters that cover the panoply of delay and disruption issues. First, Chapter 1 provides an overview of delay and disruption and some issues relevant to those concepts. In doing so, this chapter makes it clear that delay and disruption are separate and discrete concepts despite often appearing as a double act on a project. Next, there are several chapters that detail the most readily apparent legal issues, namely the time consequences of delay (Ch. 2), the financial consequences of delay (Chs 4 and 5), acceleration (Ch. 6) and disruption (Ch. 7).</p>
