When a construction dispute hits, you don’t just need numbers or a programme – you need both, working together. Success depends on more than just presenting facts – it’s about building a compelling, evidence-based story that links time, cost and cause.

That’s why claims consultants trained in Quantity Surveying and Programme Analysis may offer the ideal combination to draft your claim submissions and lead adjudication proceedings.

A dual-trained expert can build a claims submission that is technically watertight, cost-effective, and strategically tailored for adjudication, while solicitors are best reserved for legal oversight and enforcement. The optimal route in many cases is a hybrid team where a claims consultant leads on substance, and a solicitor ensures legal compliance as well as handling any court stages.


Accurate & Coherent Claim Submissions


A claims consultant will ensure your cost and delay positions are seamlessly aligned – no gaps, no contradictions. This is because they are prepared by a single professional with both commercial and scheduling expertise. It gives contractors and subcontractors the benefit of one expert with two disciplines in a single integrated claim, offering the strongest possible position in adjudication or any formal dispute.

What this means in practice is technical and forensic accuracy in the claim for several key reasons:

• Integrated cost and time analysis – A QS with programme analysis skills can quantify both financial and delay elements accurately, ensuring the claim is internally consistent (e.g., the cost claim matches the programme logic).

• Real-world construction knowledge – They understand how works are actually executed, enabling them to explain cause-and-effect clearly (essential for persuading adjudicators).

• Robust evidence preparation – They can prepare contemporaneous records analysis, resource histograms, earned value metrics, and delay analysis that a solicitor would normally have to outsource.


Stronger Technical Narrative for Adjudicators


A claims consultant is skilled at transforming complex events into a concise, logical narrative that links what happened on site to the contract and the resulting entitlement. This makes it easier for adjudicators or tribunals to follow the story of the claim. By offering a service that provides clear Storytelling for construction claims, Decision-Makers are more informed.


The key reasons why this expertise matters include:


• Narrative backed by data – Adjudicators value submissions that tie events to the contract, the programme and contemporaneous site records, all in one coherent story.

• Clarity of cause-and-effect – Programme analysis specialists can clearly link specific events to delay periods and quantify the resulting cost impact, making the practical case of cause and effect without the sophistry often seen in purely legal assertions.

• Less generic, more persuasive – Claims consultants can show exactly how site events unfolded rather than relying on abstract legal argument.


Fast Turnaround in High-Pressure Proceedings


With both skillsets in one place, QS-trained claims consultants minimise the need to wait on multiple specialists. Analysis, drafting and revisions can happen more quickly to meet tight adjudication deadlines, and this can lead to a faster resolution of the claim overall.

This efficiency manifests itself in a number of ways:

• Front-loaded preparation – A claims consultant can assemble the evidential and analytical base early, meaning the legal arguments (if needed) can be built on a rock-solid technical core.

• Familiarity with adjudicator expectations – Many adjudicators come from QS or engineering backgrounds, so technical submissions often land more effectively when prepared by peers who "speak the same language."

• Quick response capability – They can rapidly update analyses or valuations mid-proceedings without waiting for external expert input.


Alignment with Commercial Objectives


The benefit of QS-trained claims consultants “speaking the same language” as their clients and others involved in the process also applies from a commercial perspective. Having experience of running a quantity surveying practice, coupled with a deep understanding of how the construction sector really works offers claimants a range of benefits including:

• Practical settlement mindset – Claims consultants are often more commercially pragmatic, looking for achievable outcomes rather than purely legal victories.

• Holistic view of entitlement – They consider both formal contractual rights and practical negotiation levers, rather than just legal theory.

• Preservation of relationships – A technical approach can be framed less aggressively than legal correspondence, keeping doors open for future collaboration.


How a Claims Consultant Led Hybrid Approach Works


If all this sounds like solicitor-bashing, think again! Any good claims consultant will collaborate regularly and closely with solicitors because in many claims there will be a point where efforts to resolve the claim are unable to progress without legal intervention.

Solicitors are very much part of the process in many claims, particularly due to:

• Jurisdictional challenges – If there’s a serious question about whether an adjudicator has the power to decide, solicitors should advise.

• Enforcement in court – A solicitor is required for issuing proceedings in the Technology and Construction Court (TCC).

• Complex points of law – Where interpretation of statute or precedent is central.

This is why hybrid approach works best, streamlining the claims process and providing cost efficiency as a result of:

• Less duplication – With solicitors, you often need to pay separate experts for quantum and delay, plus legal drafting; a dual-trained claims consultant can handle most of this in-house.

• Targeted use of legal resource – Solicitors can still be engaged for jurisdiction, procedural compliance, and enforcement, but the bulk of the technical narrative and evidence assembly (often the most time-consuming) is handled at a lower cost.

• Avoiding "translation layers" – Without an intermediary explaining technical matters to lawyers, fewer billable hours are spent on interpretation.


Find out more


If you would like to know more about why a QS-trained claims consultant can help you with your construction claims, please contact us on +44 (0)113 447 0133 or get in touch through our contact form.