Construction Contract Notice and Claims Calendar
At contract award or project kickoff, and again when a delay, change or dispute first arises, to see every notice requirement and its consequence in one place.
Construction claims are often lost on procedure rather than merit. A contractor that had a valid delay or differing-site-conditions claim can find it waived because written notice went out late, in the wrong form, or to the wrong person. Notice provisions are scattered across the agreement, the general conditions and project-specific riders, and the riders frequently change the periods the base form sets.
This prompt puts the contract and the riders in separate tags and asks Claude to extract every notice, claim or submission requirement into one table. Each row records the trigger, the deadline in the contract's exact words, the required form and recipient, and the stated consequence of missing it, with the clause quoted. Claude then lists conflicts between documents, ambiguous triggers that need a judgment call, and calendar-ready entries that feed straight into your deadline workflow.
The table is only as complete as the documents you paste, and Claude does not decide whether a late notice can be excused, which varies by jurisdiction. Counsel must confirm each extracted obligation against the signed documents, resolve ambiguous triggers and conflicts, and set the calendar. Treat the output as a draft for attorney review.
The Prompt
I represent the [OWNER / GENERAL CONTRACTOR / SUBCONTRACTOR / DESIGN PROFESSIONAL] on [PROJECT NAME]. I need every notice obligation in the contract documents below so we can calendar them and avoid losing a claim on a missed notice. Contract date: [DATE]. Key project dates if known: [NOTICE TO PROCEED, SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION, ETC.]. <contract> [PASTE THE AGREEMENT AND GENERAL CONDITIONS] </contract> <riders> [PASTE SUPPLEMENTARY CONDITIONS, RIDERS, AMENDMENTS AND ANY INCORPORATED EXHIBITS THAT CONTAIN NOTICE TERMS] </riders> Extract every notice, claim, request or submission requirement, including for: delays and extensions of time; change orders and changed or extra work; differing or concealed site conditions; claims and disputes; payment applications, payment disputes and withheld payments; suspension and termination; defects and warranty; insurance and incidents; and any general notices clause that governs delivery. Output a table sorted by category: # | Obligation | Who must give it | Trigger event | Deadline (quote the time words exactly, e.g., "within 21 days after the occurrence") | Required form and content | Recipient and delivery method | Consequence of missing it, as stated (e.g., waiver) | Clause cite | Quoted text. Then list: 1. Conflicts between the agreement, general conditions and riders, including which order-of-precedence clause controls. 2. Ambiguous triggers (e.g., "after the Contractor knew or should have known") that need a calendaring decision. 3. Deadlines that depend on dates I have not provided. 4. Calendar entries in the format: Event | Rule | Clause, ready for a deadline calendar. Quote the contract for every row. Do not add obligations from industry-standard forms that are not in the pasted text. Whether a missed notice is excused is a [JURISDICTION] question; do not answer it. This is a draft for attorney review.
Example Output
A categorized table of every notice obligation with trigger, quoted deadline, form, recipient, stated consequence and clause cite, plus conflicts, ambiguous triggers and calendar-ready entries.
Illustrative example — names, figures, and facts are fictional.
CONSTRUCTION NOTICE TABLE (DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW) Project: Cedar Row Medical Office Building | Client: General Contractor, Tallis Builders DELAYS 1 | Notice of delay | Contractor | Occurrence of delay event | "within ten (10) days after the occurrence of the event" | Written; cause and estimated impact | Owner's Representative, by email and certified mail | "failure to give such notice shall constitute a waiver" | GC 9.2 (as modified by Rider B, item 4) | quoted CHANGES 2 | Request for change order | Contractor | Directive believed to change scope | "prior to commencing the affected Work" | Written; cost and time | Architect and Owner | "no adjustment shall be made" | GC 6.4 | quoted DIFFERING SITE CONDITIONS 3 | Notice of concealed conditions | Contractor | Discovery of condition | "promptly and before conditions are disturbed" | Written | Owner and Architect | Not stated | GC 4.5 | quoted CLAIMS 4 | Claim notice | Either party | Event giving rise to claim | "within 14 days after the claimant first recognizes the condition" (Rider B) | Written | Other party and Initial Decision Maker | "claims not so made are waived" | Rider B, item 9 | quoted CONFLICTS GC 12.3 sets 21 days for claims; Rider B, item 9 sets 14 days. Rider B order-of-precedence clause (item 1) states riders control. AMBIGUOUS TRIGGERS Item 4: "first recognizes" requires a calendaring decision. Recommend calendaring from the earliest documented awareness. DATES NEEDED Notice to proceed date (warranty and suspension items). CALENDAR ENTRIES Delay event | +10 days | GC 9.2 Claim event | +14 days | Rider B, item 9
Tips
- •Paste the general conditions and every rider. Modified notice periods are often hidden in supplementary conditions rather than the main agreement.
- •Pay close attention to the general notices clause; a claim notice sent by the wrong method or to the wrong person can be challenged.
- •Turn the calendar entries into reminders well before each deadline, and give the field team a short version of the triggers.
- •Rerun the prompt on change orders and amendments as the project goes on; notice terms sometimes change mid-project.
- •Have counsel review the table and decide ambiguous triggers. Whether a late notice is excused depends on [JURISDICTION] law; verify any authority you add. The table is a draft for attorney review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this work with standard industry forms?
Yes, but paste the actual text, including all modifications. The prompt tells Claude not to supply provisions from standard forms that are not in what you pasted, because projects routinely modify the base periods and procedures. Extracting from the documents you actually signed is the only safe approach.
Will Claude tell me whether a late notice is fatal to the claim?
No. Courts differ on whether strict notice provisions are enforced, excused by actual knowledge, waived by conduct or subject to a prejudice requirement. The prompt marks that as a [JURISDICTION] question. Use the table to avoid the problem in the first place, and research the excuse doctrines separately when a notice is already late.
How do I get these into our calendar?
The final section produces entries in an Event, Rule, Clause format that you can feed into the deadline-calendar workflow or your own docketing system. Because most construction deadlines run from events rather than fixed dates, give the project team the triggers too, so they know when a clock has started.
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