‘Thickening’ of Preliminary Items
It is generally accepted that when a contractor is entitled to an extension of time, they are also entitled to claim for time-related costs for the period of delay. Time-related costs include expenses for providing site management, site establishment, plant and equipment, insurances, additional financing costs, head office costs, and similar items, which are usually priced in the preliminaries section of the bill of quantities.
However, are there situations where a contractor may legitimately claim for additional resources, as opposed to simply extending the existing resources for a prolonged period? The answer is yes, and this is known as ‘thickening.’
Consider a situation where the Employer has instructed the Contractor to carry out a substantial amount of additional work, but still needs to meet a completion date that is earlier than what would be achieved with the extension of time to which the Contractor would otherwise be entitled. In such a case, it would be necessary to deploy additional labor, plant, and machinery to carry out the work, for which the Contractor would receive payment under the contract rates and prices when evaluating the additional work. However, if the Contractor deploys additional resources, they may also need to mobilize additional site supervision, management, administration staff, and the like. Mobilization and demobilization of both productive and non-productive resources will probably cause the Contractor to incur additional costs. The staff may also require supplementary site facilities in order to carry out their duties, but such costs would not be recovered through the rates and prices. This is what is referred to as thickening, and it is claimable by the Contractor.
If it were not for the requirement to accelerate in order to meet the Employer’s desired completion date, the Contractor would be entitled to an extension of time, for which the Employer would incur prolongation costs. The savings from avoiding prolongation may therefore possibly offset or contribute towards the thickening costs.
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