What Goes in a FIDIC Fully Detailed Claim: The 84-Day Submission Under Clause 20.2.4

Twenty-eight days buys a seat at the table, and the seat is all it buys. Under FIDIC 2017 the fully detailed claim falls due 84 days from awareness, and contractors who served a flawless notice still lose entitlement inside that second window. The claim is built there, or it is not built at all.

Where the Notice Stops and the Claim Begins

A Notice of Claim under Sub-Clause 20.2.1 does one job: it tells the Engineer that an event has occurred and that the contractor considers itself entitled to time, money, or both. It is short, it is procedural, and it preserves a right rather than proving one. Most contractors treat that notice as the hard part, and the 28-day rule has earned its reputation honestly.

The submission that follows is a different document entirely. Sub-Clause 20.2.4 requires a fully detailed claim, and the word fully is doing real work in that phrase. This is the document the Engineer assesses, the document a dispute board reads, and the one that has to stand alone when nobody is there to explain it. The problem is rarely that contractors do not know the notice deadline. It is that they treat serving the notice as the achievement.

When Do the 84 Days Start Running?

The 84 days run from the date on which the contractor became aware, or should have become aware, of the event or circumstance. That is the same trigger date as the 28-day Notice of Claim, so the two deadlines share a start and expire 56 days apart. Nothing restarts the period, and an acknowledgement from the Engineer does not extend it.

A team that notifies on day 26 can quietly assume it has 84 days from then, and file the submission near day 110 of a window that closed at 84. Fixing the date of awareness in writing on the day the event is identified removes that risk, and a notice deadline calculator works both windows out from that single date.

What Fully Detailed Actually Means

FIDIC defines the content of the submission rather than its length. Four things must be present, and the first two are narrative: a detailed description of the event or circumstance, and a statement of the contractual and legal basis. The other two are evidential, covering the contemporary records relied on and detailed particulars of the payment and the extension of time claimed.

Each of those four elements does work the others cannot do for it. A narrative without records is an assertion, and particulars without a contractual basis quantify an entitlement nobody has established. A submission that does three of the four well is still not a fully detailed claim.

Contemporary is the word to watch. Records created for the claim, months after the event, carry a fraction of the weight of records made while the work was happening. A daily allocation sheet signed on site beats an elegant reconstruction produced in month eleven.

The Statement of Contractual Basis Carries Its Own Time Bar

One element of the submission is treated differently from the rest, and it is the one contractors tend to draft last. If the statement of the contractual and legal basis is missing at day 84, the Notice of Claim is deemed to have lapsed and ceases to be valid. The Engineer must give notice of that lapse, and silence leaves the notice valid, subject to the point being revisited on assessment.

That sanction shapes the order in which the work should be done. A submission thin on records or unfinished on quantum is a weak claim, and a weak claim can still be supplemented and assessed. A fully detailed claim can be immaculate on quantum and fatally silent on entitlement, so identify the sub-clause first and apply it to the facts before anyone opens a spreadsheet.

What Happens After the Claim Lands

Sub-Clause 20.2.5 routes the fully detailed claim into the agreement or determination procedure. The Engineer must first consult the parties and try to reach agreement, and failing that must issue a fair determination. Both steps carry defined time limits under Sub-Clause 3.7, and the determination period runs from the expiry of the agreement period rather than from receipt of the submission. If the Engineer neither agrees nor determines in time, the claim is deemed to have been rejected.

A deemed rejection sounds like a defeat, and it works as a release. It stops a contractor being held in an assessment loop by an Engineer who does not respond, and it opens the route to the dispute board. That route is only available where the fully detailed claim went in inside the 84 days.

Continuing Effects and the Interim Claim

Not every event closes neatly inside that window. Where the effect is continuing, Sub-Clause 20.2.6 treats the day 84 submission as interim and requires further interim claims at monthly intervals, each stating the accumulated delay and the accumulated amount claimed. The final claim is then due within 28 days of the effect ending, or within another period agreed with the Engineer.

A contractor facing an ongoing event does not get to wait until the picture is complete. The account opens at day 84 with the best figures then available and stays current month by month, because lateness is an argument the employer will run whatever the merits.

Building the Submission Before the Clock Runs Out

Contractors who submit complete claims at day 84 tend to run the same habits, and none of them is sophisticated. Fix the date of awareness in writing on the day the event is identified, and run both deadlines from it. Open a claim file at the same moment so records route into it as they are created, then draft the contractual basis before anyone starts on quantum.

There is a generational trap in the 2017 procedure. A team trained on the 1999 conditions will diarise 42 days for the particulars and will not expect a separate sanction on the statement of contractual basis. The differences are set out in FIDIC 2017 vs FIDIC 1999, and old habits can lose a claim while everyone involved feels compliant.

In CALIM's experience across dozens of GCC engagements, the fully detailed claims that fail do so for reasons unconnected to entitlement. The notice went out on time, and the 84 days that followed went on running the project. Day 80 arrives, the quantum is half finished, the records sit across three site offices, and the document that goes in describes a delay without proving it. The FIDIC procedure punishes late and incomplete submissions far harder than it punishes weak arguments.

At CALIM, we start the fully detailed claim at the date of awareness, not in the week it falls due. We draft the contractual basis first, capture records as the work creates them, and build time and cost together. That order is how our FIDIC claims management engagements run, because it is the order the Engineer reads in.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to submit a fully detailed claim under FIDIC 2017?

The fully detailed claim is due 84 days after the contractor became aware, or should have become aware, of the event. Sub-Clause 20.2.4 requires a detailed description of the event and a statement of the contractual and legal basis. The contemporary records relied on and particulars of the time and money claimed must come with it.

Does the 84 days run from my notice or from the event?

The 84 days run from awareness of the event, not from the date the notice was served. Both the 28-day Notice of Claim and the 84-day fully detailed claim share that trigger date. Serving the notice late does not extend the second deadline. Notify on day 26 and 58 days remain, not 84.

What happens if I miss the 84-day deadline?

The consequence depends on which element is missing. If the statement of the contractual and legal basis is absent at day 84, the Notice of Claim is deemed to have lapsed, and the Engineer must give notice of that lapse. Where no such notice comes, the Notice of Claim stands, subject to later challenge. Other shortcomings weaken the claim rather than extinguish it.

Can I agree a longer period than 84 days with the Engineer?

Yes, but only before the period expires. Sub-Clause 20.2.4 allows the contractor to propose a different period and the Engineer to agree it. The proposal must be made inside the running deadline and the agreement recorded in writing, with the revised date stated. A request made on day 90 admits the deadline has passed rather than asking to move it.

What do I submit if the delay is still ongoing at day 84?

Submit an interim fully detailed claim on time and keep it current. Where the event has a continuing effect, Sub-Clause 20.2.6 treats the day 84 submission as interim and requires further interim claims at monthly intervals. Each states the accumulated delay and the accumulated sum claimed. The final claim follows within 28 days after the effect of the event ends.

The notice preserves the right, and the day 84 submission is the claim.

Note: This article provides general information on the FIDIC 2017 claims procedure and is not legal advice. The operation of Sub-Clauses 20.2.1 to 20.2.6 depends on the edition in use, the Particular Conditions, and the governing law. Contractors should take advice on their own contract before relying on it.