The 28-day notice: keep the claim alive
FIDIC 1999 Red Book, Sub-Clause 20.1 — the time bar that decides whether a UAE subcontractor's claim survives. Notice first, argue later.
Under Sub-Clause 20.1, a contractor who considers itself entitled to an extension of time or additional payment must give notice not later than 28 days after it became aware, or should have become aware, of the event or circumstance. Miss the window and the clause is blunt: no extension, no additional payment, and the Employer is discharged from liability for the claim. Most UAE main contracts pass this regime down back-to-back into subcontracts — sometimes with shorter periods. Read your particular conditions before relying on anything on this page.
The clock, day by day
The clock starts at awareness — the day you knew, or should have known, of the event. Not the day the cost lands. Diarise it the same day.
The fully detailed claim: contractual basis, the time and/or amounts claimed, and the records behind them.
Your contract may shorten or amend these periods — check the particular conditions, not just the FIDIC general conditions.
What a compliant notice contains
- In writing, delivered as the contract requires (Sub-Clause 1.3) — right party, right address, proof of delivery kept.
- Identifies the event or circumstance, with the date you became aware of it.
- Says what it is: a notice of claim under Sub-Clause 20.1, citing the clauses relied on.
- States the entitlement claimed — extension of time, additional payment, or both — even before amounts are known.
- Lands inside 28 days, with the date of receipt evidenced.
Contemporaneous records — keep from day 1
- Daily reports and site diaries, signed and dated.
- Photos and video with dates and locations.
- Site instructions, RFIs and variation paperwork.
- Correspondence and meeting minutes touching the event.
- Programme: baseline, updates, and the impacted programme.
- Labour, plant and material allocation sheets for the affected work.
- Costs coded to the event from the first day — not reconstructed later.
Common ways contractors lose entitlement
- Treating the notice as a relationship problem and waiting to "see how it goes".
- Burying it in meeting minutes or a routine email instead of a formal notice.
- No clause reference — so it is never recognised as a notice at all.
- Sending it to the wrong party, or by a route the contract does not recognise.
- Waiting for full cost figures before notifying — notice first, quantify by day 42.
- Relying on the Engineer "knowing about it anyway" as a substitute for notice.
- Assembling records after the dispute starts instead of keeping them from day 1.
- Assuming local law will rescue a missed time bar. Do not plan on it.
A notice that matters deserves a professional — this page only buys you time
Use it to spot the event, start the records and move inside the deadline. Drafting and serving the notice — wording, recipients, reservations of rights — needs a qualified claims consultant or construction lawyer. Engage one early; it costs less than a barred claim.