Module 11: Corruption dilemmas
You are Commercial Manager of a construction company, Buildwell, which is carrying out works under a road construction contract with the public sector National Roads Agency (NRA).
Under the contract between Buildwell and the NRA:
Buildwell is 100 days late in completing the road, and you are preparing a claim against the NRA for the delay. There are two identifiable reasons for the delay.
When you examine the cause and effect of the delays, you believe that:
When you explain the position to the commercial director of Buildwell (to whom you report), he tells you to claim the full 100 days extension of time from the NRA on the basis that the whole 100 days delay was due to the NRA’s variation. He tells you not to mention in the claim the supplier’s delay, or any doubt about the 40 days. He tells you that:
“It’s good commercial practice to claim the full delay. It would be madness to admit the delay is our fault, as then we would have to pay damages. Anyway, the NRA is going to knock two thirds of our claim off, so that will leave us with approximately 30 days, so that will get us to the correct result in the end. And if the NRA does not spot it, and gives us more than 30 days, then we get a bit of extra time and money.”
What do you do?
Consider your position, and then go to the analysis on the next page.
January 2025
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