Notice of delay: when to send one, what to say (free template)
What is a notice of delay?
A notice of delay is the short written notice that tells the builder the works are being delayed, or are likely to be. It is not the claim itself — it is the letter that keeps the claim alive. Almost every commercial subcontract makes some form of delay notification the first step in the extension of time process, and many make it a condition precedent with a time bar: no notice inside the window, no EOT, and the liquidated damages that follow are yours.
The distinction that matters:
- Notice of delay — fast, short, sent when you become aware of the delay. It identifies the event and reserves your position while the full picture develops.
- EOT claim — the follow-up with particulars: cause, entitlement clause, programme impact, time claimed. Many clauses give a second window for this, counted from the notice.
Two documents, two deadlines. Subcontractors lose claims by treating them as one — waiting until they can quantify the delay before saying anything, by which time the notice window has closed.
When to send one
As soon as you become aware of any event that is delaying the works or is likely to. Not when you can measure it, not when it resolves, not at the end of the month. Three habits protect you:
- Notify on awareness, quantify later. "Estimated delay: to be advised" inside the window beats a precise figure a week after the bar came down. Check what your clause requires the initial notice to contain — most ask for the event and the affected activities, not a final number.
- Notify every event, not just the builder's. Weather, latent conditions, late access, late information, upstream trades — if the programme is moving, notify. Serving notices routinely makes them business as usual rather than an act of aggression, and you cannot know at day one which delay will matter at the end.
- Follow the clause's mechanics. The required form, the named recipient, the permitted method of service. A text to the site foreman is not written notice to the superintendent's nominated email address. If notice periods run in business days, count them the way the contract defines them.
What the notice must contain
Check your own clause first — some prescribe content. A notice that covers the following will satisfy most:
- The clause you are notifying under — the delay/EOT notice clause of your subcontract, cited by number.
- The event — what happened, in a sentence or two.
- When it arose and when you became aware — both dates, because clauses trigger off either.
- The activities affected — which parts of the works.
- The estimated delay — your best current estimate, expressly "to be confirmed".
- Mitigation — what you are doing to limit the delay.
- Reservation of rights — that you reserve your entitlement to an extension of time and, where the contract provides one, delay costs, with further particulars to follow.
Download the template
A one-page Word template with all of the above as fill-in fields, ready to put on your letterhead and adapt to your subcontract's clause:
Download the notice of delay template (DOCX)
It is deliberately generic — your contract's clause always wins. Check the clause number, the required recipient and the window before you send, and treat the template as the floor, not the form.
Where SubSync fits
Templates fail for one reason: somebody has to remember to use them, against a deadline they read once, months ago, at tender. SubSync's contract notices module extracts every notice obligation from the executed subcontract at project setup — event, clause, window, service method — tracks the deadlines in business days, and drafts the notice against the actual clause rather than a generic form. The delay notice that goes out cites your contract, not a template's guess.
The best time to know how brutal your notice clause is remains before you sign it. Upload the subcontract and the review will flag the time bar, rate its risk, and draft the departure asking for a workable window.