Will an adjudicator award my EOT claim and delay costs?
Only where the subcontract gives you an entitlement to delay costs and you followed its extension of time (EOT) notice and claim procedure. Many subcontracts exclude delay and disruption costs entirely, or give an extension of time with no money attached, and an adjudicator cannot award what the contract does not provide. Where the clause does give an entitlement, the adjudicator checks the cause, the notice, the days and the build-up of cost.
Start with the clause, not the loss
Delay cost claims fail at adjudication before anyone looks at the spreadsheet, because the contract says 'the Subcontractor has no entitlement to delay or disruption costs' and the adjudicator reads it. The first question in any application is therefore whether a clause gives you money for delay at all, for which causes, and on what procedure. If the only entitlement is time, the adjudication is about extension of time, not cost, and its value is avoiding liquidated damages rather than recovering money.
Where the contract does pay delay costs, it almost always makes notice a condition: a notice of delay within days of the cause, then a claim with particulars. The adjudicator will check the dates on your notices against the clause before considering the amount. Notices sent at the time, even one paragraph ending 'details to follow', are the difference between a claim and a story.
Victoria is the exception that changed in 2026. For payment claims served from 15 April 2026 the old excluded-amounts regime is abolished, so time-related costs can generally be included in a payment claim and pursued at adjudication. The contract still governs the entitlement; the Act no longer shuts the door.
Proving the days and the dollars
The adjudicator wants cause, effect and cost joined by evidence. Cause: the builder's instruction, the late workfront, the other trade in your way, dated. Effect: the days your critical work could not proceed, shown against the programme. Cost: the crew standing, the supervisor, the accommodation, the plant on hire, each by invoice or timesheet, less what you could reasonably have avoided.
Agreed daily rates in the contract make this far easier, which is why a departures schedule that fixes a standby or prolongation rate before signing is worth more than any argument after the event.
Know where your contract stands
Adjudicate Pro: what an adjudicator would likely award under your state's Act, and whether to apply.
Assess my payment dispute freeCommon questions
The contract gives me an EOT but no costs. Is adjudication worth it?
For the extension itself, yes, if the builder is deducting liquidated damages. An adjudicator who grants the extension removes the days the builder is charging for. For the delay cost there is no entitlement to adjudicate, and the fix is in the next contract, not this one.
Can I claim delay costs as damages for the builder's breach?
Under most East Coast Acts the adjudicator values what is payable under the contract, and a damages claim sits uneasily inside a payment claim. Victoria's 2026 reform broadened what a payment claim can include. Elsewhere, a breach claim for delay is usually a contract claim outside the adjudication, and the adjudication is for the extension of time.
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General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice. Statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.