Construction Law and Practice
Liquidated Damages Frequently Asked Questions

© Daniel Atkinson 2006 2 July 2006

The issue of Liquidated Damages in construction contracts is examined in the answers to the eight Questions below.  Each Question is answered by reference to decided cases with emphasis on recent cases.

A Practice Note for each question gives a practical summary.

Where appropriate a description is given of the relevant clauses of the main Standard Forms of Contract together with further legal commentary, including FIDIC 1999, ICE 7th Edition, NEC3, MF/1 Rev4, IChemE Red 2001 and JCT 2005(SBC/Q).

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES

1. What Are Liquidated Damages Clauses?
2. What Are the Types of Liquidated Damages Clauses?
3. Will the Courts Enforce Liquidated Damages Clauses?
4. What Are the Rules on Penalty Clauses?
5. How Have the Penalty Rules Been Applied?
6. Can the Employer Lose the Right to Liquidated Damages?
7. If the Employer Causes Delay, Does He Lose the Right to Liquidated Damages?
8. Does the LD Clause Limit the Remedies Available to the Employer?

Questions and answers to other topics can be found at the locations at the top of this page for each of the five topics.