The 28-Day Rule That Kills More Claims Than Any Dispute

28 days to notify. Day 29, the claim is contractually dead. Clause 20.1 of FIDIC has cost GCC contractors more entitlement than any single dispute, variation, or delay event we have ever seen. Not because the claims were not valid. Because the notice was not filed.

The rule is clear: if the contractor considers himself entitled to any extension of time or additional payment, he must give notice to the Engineer within 28 days of becoming aware of the event or circumstance. If he fails to do so, the time bar applies, and the claim is deemed to have been waived.

This is not a technicality. It is a contractual mechanism designed to ensure timely notification - and it is enforced. Arbitral tribunals across the GCC have upheld time-bar defences even where the underlying claim was clearly valid, the delay was evident, and the cost was documented.

The problem is rarely ignorance of the clause. Most contractors know the 28-day rule exists. The problem is execution. In the noise of a live project - with variations flying, instructions changing, and programmes slipping - the discipline of issuing formal notice within 28 days of awareness is the first thing that falls away.

CALIM builds notice discipline into every contract administration framework we deploy. We track potential claim events in real-time, flag approaching deadlines, and issue notices that meet the contractual standard for form, content, and timing. If you want to see exactly where your own deadlines fall, our free Notice Deadline Calculator dates every notice and time bar for FIDIC 1999, FIDIC 2017, and NEC4 from the date of the event.

Because the best claim in the world is worthless if it is one day late.