How many days to notify an EOT claim is normal?
Five business days is the aggressive-but-common market norm for notifying an extension of time claim in Australian subcontracts; anything shorter is high risk, and a clause that extinguishes the EOT entirely for late notice is critical risk. The EOT window matters because it prices the liquidated damages clause: an EOT you're barred from claiming becomes delay you're paying for.
Why the EOT clause is really a money clause
An extension of time isn't just programme relief. It's your defence to liquidated damages. When rain, redesign or another trade's delay pushes you late, the EOT is what stops the LD clock running against you. A 3-business-day absolute bar on EOT notices, sitting next to an uncapped $2,000/day LD clause, is a machine for converting other people's delays into your liability.
Watch for stacked requirements too: some clauses demand an initial notice within days, then a fully particularised claim with programme analysis shortly after, each with its own bar. Every extra hurdle is another way a valid entitlement dies on paperwork.
The position to negotiate
Ten business days for the initial notice is a reasonable target, with the detailed particulars to follow within a further period. Push for notice as a requirement rather than a condition precedent, and for the builder's actual knowledge of the delay event to satisfy the notice. If none of that lands, the fallback is operational: notify everything, in writing, immediately.
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What delays justify an EOT?
Whatever the clause says. That's the point. Check which causes qualify (weather, principal-caused delay, latent conditions, variations) and which are excluded. A short qualifying list plus a tight time bar narrows your protection from two directions at once.
Can I claim delay costs as well as time?
Time and money are usually separate entitlements with separate notice requirements: an EOT extends the date, while delay damages compensate the cost, often only for a subset of causes. In Victoria, note the Act was reformed from 15 April 2026: time-related costs that were once 'excluded amounts' can now generally be pursued at adjudication.
Time bars and notice windows, by state
Keep reading
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.