As QS is the party responsible for preparing the contractual and financial parts of the Tender Documents, QS is very often requested by the Employer and other Consultants to advise on the contractual validity of claims raised by the Contractor.
The next and probably the most important question is on the cost implications.
While the Special Conditions of Contract and Preliminaries may be prepared using the QS’s company standard with some modifications with little thoughts on the interpretations, post contract advice would demand a good understanding of the meaning of the clauses in the Form of Contract, Special Conditions of Contract and Preliminaries.
On top of a thorough understanding of the standard forms of contract, the common law rights and remedies are also very important matters to be understood.
A QS may be handling different types of contracts at the same time, therefore, his/her knowledge should be broad enough to cover all types encountered.
In the worst case where determination of the employment of the Contractor or termination of contract is to be considered, proper procedures must be implemented to ensure that a proper determination or termination would not end up into a breach of contract. QS advice on the detailed procedures would be important.
In case dispute resolution procedures like mediation, arbitration or court proceedings are involved, the case will then usually be passed to the lawyers to handle with QS to assist on the technical and financial aspects only.