Excusable, compensable and concurrent delay

Not every delay is equal. Some give the contractor time and money, some give time only, and some give nothing and expose the contractor to liquidated damages. Getting the category right decides most of the value of a delay claim. This lesson maps the categories used in practice onto CCDC 2-2020 GC 6.5, and sorts Northgate's 60 days into them.

Learning outcomes

• Distinguish excusable, compensable and non-excusable delay.
• Explain how CCDC 2-2020 GC 6.5 allocates time and cost for each.
• Recognize concurrent delay and why it is treated differently.
• Sort a set of delay events into categories with reasons.

The lesson

The categories

Non-excusable delay is the contractor's own: slow crews, late supplier deliveries, equipment breakdowns, rework. The contractor gets no time and no money, and may owe liquidated damages if the contract has them. Excusable delay is outside the contractor's control and earns an extension of time. Excusable delay splits further: compensable delay is caused by the owner or those the owner is responsible for, and earns time and cost; non-compensable excusable delay comes from neutral events, such as abnormal weather or a utility, and earns time only.

How GC 6.5 maps the categories

CCDC 2-2020 GC 6.5 follows this pattern. Delay caused by the Owner, the Consultant or anyone they are responsible for extends the Contract Time and entitles the contractor to reasonable costs. Delay from a stop-work order by a court or public authority, not caused by the contractor, is treated in a similar way. Delay from causes beyond the contractor's control, such as labour disputes, fire, unusual delay by common carriers or abnormally adverse weather, extends the time but carries no cost. In every case, notice within 10 Working Days applies [1].

Two words in that clause matter. "Abnormally" means ordinary seasonal weather is the contractor's risk; the contractor should have planned for a normal Ontario winter. "Reasonable" costs means the contractor proves actual, necessary costs, not a target rate.

Concurrent delay

Concurrent delay happens when an owner-risk event and a contractor-risk event both delay completion over the same period. The common approach in practice, reflected in the SCL Protocol, gives the contractor time, so that it is not exposed to liquidated damages for a period the owner also caused, but not money for that period [2]. Canadian courts have tended to apportion, and in Schindler v. Walsh the Ontario Superior Court accepted that concurrent delays usually overlap rather than start and end together [3]. Lesson 11 covers concurrency in depth.

Northgate worked example

Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional) is a 12,000 m² tilt-up warehouse in Vaughan, Ontario, built by Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) under CCDC 2-2020, with Ridgeline Architects Inc. (fictional) as Consultant. See the Northgate fact sheet. This course follows one delay claim from first notice to settlement. Ready-for-Takeover (M9) was due Friday, January 14, 2028 and was reached on Tuesday, March 14, 2028: 60 calendar days late. All events, dates and amounts are illustrative.

The owner's representative lists six delay events behind the 60 days and sorts each one (Figure 2):

View the data

Item	Value
Owner-caused (compensable)	18 days
Neutral (utility)	14 days
Concurrent	10 days
Contractor-caused	18 days

Time: 18 compensable + 14 neutral + 10 concurrent = 42 days of extension. Money: only the 18 compensable days, because the 10 concurrent days overlap Halvorsen's own roof deck delay. The remaining 18 days are Halvorsen's, and fall under the liquidated damages clause in the owner's Supplementary Conditions (lesson 16).

Your move

If you are the owner

• Categorize every event when the notice arrives. Waiting until the claim invites relabelling.
• Check "abnormal" weather against data. Compare with historical records before accepting a weather claim.
• Look for the contractor's own delays. They are often running at the same time as yours.
• Keep compensable delay small. Fast RFI answers and decisions are the cheapest claim prevention.

If you are the contractor

• Name the category in your notice. It frames the discussion from the start.
• Separate neutral from owner events. Claiming cost for a utility delay invites rejection of everything.
• Own your delays early. Your credibility on owner events depends on it.
• Document weather properly. Daily logs, lost days and a comparison with normal conditions.

Common mistakes

1. Calling every delay compensable. Neutral events earn time only.
2. Ignoring concurrency. Owners who forget it overpay; contractors who forget it overclaim.
3. Assuming any weather is abnormal. Normal winter conditions are the contractor's risk.
4. Counting days twice. Overlapping events must be netted, not added.
5. Confusing activity delay with project delay. Only critical delays move completion.

Quick quiz

1. A late answer to an RFI by the Consultant delays the critical path. Under GC 6.5 the contractor is entitled to:

   1. Nothing
   2. Time only
   3. Time and reasonable costs
   4. Cost only

2. Abnormally adverse weather delays the roof. The contractor gets:

   1. Time and cost
   2. Time only, with notice
   3. Cost only
   4. Nothing

3. Which delay is non-excusable?

   1. Late utility connection
   2. Owner's late decision
   3. Contractor's crane breaks down
   4. Stop-work order by a court not caused by the contractor

4. What is the common approach to concurrent delay in practice?

   1. Money but not time
   2. Time but not money for the concurrent period
   3. Neither time nor money
   4. Full time and money

5. How many days of extension does the Northgate analysis support?

   1. 18
   2. 32
   3. 42
   4. 60

Show answers and explanations

1. C. Delay caused by the Owner, Consultant or their people earns time and reasonable costs.
2. B. Causes beyond the contractor's control earn time but not cost.
3. C. The contractor's own equipment is its risk.
4. B. The contractor avoids liquidated damages but does not recover cost for a period it also caused.
5. C. 18 compensable + 14 neutral + 10 concurrent = 42 days.

Key terms

Excusable delay

Delay outside the contractor's control that earns an extension of time.

Compensable delay

Excusable delay caused by the owner or its people; earns time and cost.

Non-excusable delay

The contractor's own delay; earns nothing and may attract liquidated damages.

Concurrent delay

Owner-risk and contractor-risk delays affecting completion over the same period.

Neutral event

A cause neither party controls, such as abnormal weather or a third-party utility.

References

1. Canadian Construction Documents Committee, CCDC 2-2020 Stipulated Price Contract, GC 6.4 to 6.6 and Part 8. Clause content checked against a publicly posted tender copy; buy the form from CCDC.
2. Fenwick Elliott, The SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol: a second edition (November 2017), summarizing the Society of Construction Law Protocol, 2nd edition (February 2017).
3. Sahil Shoor and Tristan Neill, Gowling WLG, Ontario Superior Court endorses practical definition of concurrent delay (March 24, 2021), on Schindler Elevator Corporation v. Walsh Construction Company of Canada, 2021 ONSC 283.
4. Robin Davis, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Concurrent delay remains a thorny issue, On-Site Magazine (undated).
5. BRC, Northgate fact sheet (fictional case study, v1, November 4, 2026).

Verified on November 9, 2026.

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