Types of construction claims: A Portuguese survey

Dealing with construction claims is a difficult task nowadays. Not only claims became an inescapable issue in construction project management but analysing and resolving them adequately raises a number of difficulties. The first step for overcoming this problem is an adequate claims classification and identification. In Portugal, previous studies had identified eight different types of construction claim each one of them covered a specific process of documentation, submission, quantification and settlement, in the scope of the Portuguese construction legal frame. In order to evaluate which type of claims are currently presented in construction projects concluded in Portugal, an internet based inquiry was settled to owners and contractors. The results indicate that changes claim, particularly the subtypes direct changes, indirect changes and errors and omissions, represents 64% of claims presented in the construction projects surveyed, and together with delay claims, represented an aggregated frequency of 84%. In respect to the amounts requested and paid, the ratio was 0.76.