by Ann Withanee — August 5, 2011—U.K.-based RICS has issued new guidance to assist construction firms and their clients assess whether construction works are completed to the required standard. RICS is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Defining Completion on Construction Works addresses the completion of construction projects and whether works are finished to a contractually acceptable standard. The guidance is relevant to surveyors who are certifying the payment and completion of works, analyzing any delays, advising on financial and legal matters or addressing any issues or disputes involved in the contract.
The question of whether a project is completed can be complicated by pressures from the client, notes RICS. A client can sometimes apply pressure to hand over a construction project even though the works are not finished. On other occasions, circumstances may have changed; for example, the client may have lost a tenant, meaning that they wish to delay the handover for as long as possible.
If surveyors are required to certify completion of works, they are required to use reasonable means to satisfy themselves that the works are free from all but very minor defects, to identify any defects that do exist, and to assess the scope and potential disruption that could be caused by remedial works if the works are to be taken into possession before all of the defects are rectified.
Assessing the completion of construction projects is rarely a scientific or purely logical process, but requires a degree of evaluation, notes RICS. The question to be asked is not whether the works are finished, but rather whether the works are finished to a standard that can be reasonably expected of a competent contractor as required by the contract terms.
This new code provides surveyors who operate at all levels of the completion process advice and best practice on the contractual, financial and legal issues involved with the completion and handover of construction projects. In addition, the guidance assesses what precisely is meant by “completion” of works under a variety of construction contracts.
The guidance is available for download to members of RICS.
