What is
an Extension of Time?
An extension of time, or EOT, is the mechanism that moves the contractual completion date when the works are delayed by an event the contract places at the employer's risk. Its effect is protective: for the extended period the contractor is relieved of delay damages. Under UAE construction contracts an EOT claim stands on three legs: a qualifying event, proven impact on the critical path, and notice given within the contractual time-bar.
The three elements of every EOT claim
First, entitlement: an event the contract makes an employer risk, such as variations, late access, late design information or exceptional weather. Second, causation: the event must actually push completion, demonstrated through critical-path programme analysis rather than assertion. Third, procedure: notice within the contract's window, commonly 28 days from awareness. UAE tribunals routinely treat these time-bars as enforceable conditions precedent, so a good claim notified late is often no claim at all. The full mechanics are in our guide to construction claims, variations and EOT in the UAE.
Time and money are separate claims
An EOT moves the date; it does not itself pay the contractor. Prolongation costs, the time-related cost of staying on site longer, form a distinct claim with its own record-keeping burden: actual site overheads for the delay window, not tender rates. Contractors who win time but present global, unparticularised cost claims usually lose the money.
Does an EOT automatically mean more money?
No. Time and money are separate. The EOT relieves delay damages for the extended period; prolongation costs must be claimed and proven separately, from actual records of time-related site costs during the delay. Some qualifying events, such as exceptional weather under many forms, carry time but no money at all.
What happens if the contractor misses the notice deadline?
Under most UAE construction contracts the claim is lost. Notice provisions drafted as conditions precedent, like FIDIC's 28-day rule, are generally enforced by UAE tribunals. Arguments from good faith or abuse of rights occasionally soften the result, but no contractor should plan around them: the discipline is to notify everything, early.
How is concurrent delay treated in the UAE?
There is no codified UAE rule for concurrent delay, so outcomes turn on the contract, the tribunal and the quality of the delay analysis. A common practical result is time but not money: the contractor gets the EOT because an employer event affected completion, but recovers no prolongation costs for periods it was itself in culpable delay.
Sitting on a delay claim?
Senior counsel only. We prepare, defend and arbitrate EOT and prolongation claims across the UAE.
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