b'LEGAL COLUMNLESSONS LEARNED AND APPLIED 2022 AND BEYOND BY VANESSA S. WERDEN, CONSTRUCTION LAWYER, JENKINS MARZBAN LOGAN LLProm material cost escalation tochanges are the natural consequencePRICE ESCALATION &F labour shortages, sustainabilityof adopting new technology and socialSUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONmandates and technologicalpolicies, many are also necessary responsesSupply chain disruption claims have advancements, there are many factors thatto climate change, natural disasters andbeen cascading onto my desk for the last have impacted construction over the lastthe pandemic. The following are some oftwo years. The default basis for claims has 18 months and continue to send ripplesthe most common issues that have comebecome COVID-19. The pandemic has through the industry in B.C. While someacross my desk over the past year.unquestionably put additional pressure on material costs, labour supply, and SUPERIORshipping costs and delays.PROTECTION. Generally, force majeure clauses will not entitle a contractor to additional compensation due to increased material costs post-contracting. There has been much discussion among construction lawyers about whether COVID-19 is a force majeure event; the overwhelming consensus is that it is not. In any event, to recover on a force majeure claim, a claimant is required to demonstrate that the escalation made it impossible to perform the work, and most issues arising from supply chain disruption LibertyPumps.com and cost escalation will not meet that Chilliwack Maple Ridge Port Coquitlam Surrey West Kelowna threshold. Even if the claimant can meet 44653 Yale Road West 23652 Dewdney Trunk Road 1458 Mustang Place 7815 King George Boulevard 1115 Stevens Road604.792.0866 604.467.1535 604.941.7318 604.502.9122 250.769.3101 this test, the remedy is not an increase in payment, but rather a timeline extension Proudly Serving Southern British Columbia proportionate to the disruptionstime impacts. 42 SOUTHERN INTERIOR CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION'