Blog 013 - Schedules of Attendances

Schedules of Attendances should be a fundamental part of any tender and subsequent contract that a Specialist Contractor engages in. But what are they?

Attendances are a series of items or services that are to be provided by the Employer or Main Contractor to assist in the undertaking of the Specialist Contract works. Too often, particularly on smaller projects where there sometimes isn’t even a formal contract (ouch!) the attendances provided by the Main Contractor are agreed verbally or worse, assumed.

Specialist Contractors should adopt a best practice of including a schedule of the attendances that they require with their quotation and then request that it is included within the contract. It is important to agree upfront what will be provided and by who to prevent any disagreement later and to ensure your works are adequately serviced. Proper attendances assist in completing the works in an efficient and timely manner. Typical items a Specialist might need provided by the Main Contractor include running water, temporary electrics, canteen facilities, scaffolds, use of a tower crane as applicable, use of hoisting as applicable amongst others. Certain trades will require trade specific attendance, for example, a brickwork specialist may require a clean and level slab be provided for siting a cement silo on.

What if you don’t agree a schedule? If you fail to agree a schedule, you risk the attendance not being provided to you for free or worse, at all. You may find yourself liable for delays which have resulted out of a loss of service in the attendances, for example, if the crane isn’t available for two weeks, you will not have any recourse to an extension of time if it is not an agreed attendance. Whilst it may all seem overly contractual, it really is a matter of communicating what you need to succeed with the people best placed to provide it, after all, a Main Contractors general role is to facilitate the co-ordination and execution of the Specialist Contractors.

If your trade requires an attendance which is programme critical, make this clear at tender. You can even specify the requirements, for example, the brickie from earlier may require a specific flow rate on the water feed to the muck plant or a cladding contractor might require a minimum quantity of crane hours per week. The same with nearly all things construction, talking about things and sooner is the best policy. Using a schedule of attendances makes it clear beyond any reasonable doubt who is providing what to undertake the Specialist Works. This may be open to negotiation and if it can’t be provided, at least you will have the chance to price for it.

The most common way to present a schedule of attendances is in a short table listing the attendance and clarifying who it will be provided by. Use a notes column to add in any specific information.

If you want to discuss general attendances or help compiling a proforma schedule, drop me an email.