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Notice and time-bar checklist for Indian highway EPC and HAM contracts

Published 8 October 2026. About 7 minutes to read.

Most highway claims are not lost on the engineering. They are lost because a notice went out late, went to the wrong person, or said too little. The contract runs its own clock, and that clock usually starts when your site team knew, or should have known, about the problem, not when head office found out.

This guide covers the notices a highway EPC or HAM contractor usually has to give, how deadlines are counted, and what a time bar does, with a checklist at the end.

Which document we checked

Clause numbers here come from one document: the MoRTH EPC Agreement for Construction of National Highway Works, February 2019 (copy hosted on the NHIDCL website). Your agreement may follow another version, may have been changed by later circulars, and may number clauses differently. HAM projects use a separate model concession agreement, whose clause numbers we have not cited. Always work from your own signed agreement.

The five notices that matter most

1. Site access and hindrance

Late handover of land, unshifted utilities, pending clearances and blocked access are the commonest highway delay events. In the February 2019 model, Clause 8.3 gives a formula for damages payable to the contractor where the right of way is not handed over by the agreed dates, and links any time extension to the general extension of time clause, Clause 10.5. The same clause limits both the damages and the time extension to the "Construction Zone" and to the works actually affected.

Each hindrance needs its own written notice giving the chainage, the date the front was needed and the works held up. A site hindrance register is useful evidence, but it does not replace the notice.

2. Extension of time

Clause 10.5 of the February 2019 model lists the events that entitle the contractor to a time extension, including delay in right of way, change of scope, force majeure and delay caused by the Authority. Clause 10.5(ii) requires a written notice to the Authority's Engineer, with a copy to the Authority, no later than 15 business days from the event. The 15 business days run from when the contractor became aware, or should have become aware, of the event. It must give reasonable detail and supporting particulars.

For events with a continuing effect, Clause 10.5(v) asks for interim claims no later than 10 days after the close of each month, and a final claim within 30 days after the effect ends. Many contractors send the first notice and stop, leaving later months unsupported.

3. Change of scope

Under Clause 13.2 of the same model, when the Authority's Engineer issues a Change of Scope Notice, the contractor must submit a detailed proposal within 15 days, covering the effect on the completion schedule and on cost, with quantities, rates and design. A change of scope that the contractor itself proposes must be raised no later than 90 days from the Appointed Date. Clause 13.2(iv) also provides that where the contractor's and the Authority's cost figures differ by more than 10 per cent, the Authority's figure is final.

Changes often arrive informally: a revised drawing, a site meeting instruction, an email from a field officer. If you treat it as a change, write back promptly, say so, and ask for a formal Change of Scope Notice.

4. Claims for additional payment

Money claims, such as idle plant, prolongation overheads or interest on delayed payments, usually rest on a time event that should already have been notified. If that delay was not notified in time, the money claim is exposed. For each claim head, check which clause gives the entitlement and whether it has its own notice period. One general letter rarely covers everything.

5. Force majeure

Clause 21.5 of the February 2019 model requires the affected party to report a force majeure event "forthwith", with full particulars and supporting evidence. Clause 21.5(ii) says no relief is available unless notice is given as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event no later than 10 days after the party knew, or ought reasonably to have known, of the event. While the event continues, reports must go out at least weekly under Clause 21.5(iii).

Note the difference: the extension of time notice is counted in business days, the force majeure notice in days.

How the deadlines are counted

Read the interpretation clause before you count. In the February 2019 model, Clause 1.2 provides that:

  • a "day" is a calendar day;
  • a "business day" is a day, other than a Sunday, on which banks in Delhi are generally open;
  • a period running "from" one date "till" another includes both dates;
  • if the last day of a period is not a business day, the period runs to the end of the next business day.

The start date is the other trap. A clause that runs from when you "became aware, or should have become aware" starts on the day the site knew, not when head office read about it.

Delivery matters as well. Clause 27.13 of the same model requires notices to be in writing and sent to the named person by fax or email and by letter delivered by hand, with alternatives for parties outside Delhi. Keep proof of delivery for every notice.

What time-bar language does

Clause 10.5(iii) of the February 2019 model is a clear example. If the contractor does not give the notice in time, it "shall not be entitled to any Time Extension and shall forfeit its right" to such claims, and the Authority is discharged from liability for that claim. Clause 21.5(ii) works the same way for force majeure.

Whether a time bar is applied strictly depends on the wording, the facts and both sides' conduct, which is a question for your counsel. For day to day contract management, assume it will be applied.

Common ways claims are lost on paperwork

  • Sending the notice to the Authority but not the Authority's Engineer, or the other way round, when the clause names both.
  • A one-line letter that names the event but gives no dates, chainage, affected works or likely effect.
  • One notice for a delay that ran for months, with no monthly interim claims and no final claim.
  • Relying on meeting minutes, progress reports or messaging apps instead of a notice under the clause.
  • Counting from the date head office learnt of the event, not the date the site knew.
  • Mixing up business days and calendar days.
  • No proof of delivery, or notices sent from personal email accounts.
  • A hindrance register, daily reports and letters that give different dates for the same event.

Checklist for a live project

  1. Make a one-page notice table from your own agreement: each clause, the trigger, the period, business or calendar days, who receives the notice and who must be copied.
  2. Name one person on site responsible for spotting triggering events.
  3. Diarise the deadline on the day the event happens, counted from the awareness date.
  4. Send the first notice early with what you know, and say that further particulars will follow.
  5. In every notice, cite the clause, the event, the chainage and the works affected.
  6. For continuing events, diarise the monthly interim claim and the final claim.
  7. Reply in writing to every informal instruction that you treat as a change of scope.
  8. Keep proof of delivery: receipts, email headers and courier records.
  9. Reconcile the hindrance register with letters and daily progress reports every month.
  10. File each notice with that event's photographs, joint records and correspondence.

The notice clauses still apply under MoRTH's revised dispute chapter. See our guide on the January 2026 circular.

General information, not legal advice. This guide summarises one model agreement and is not a substitute for reading your own contract or taking advice from a qualified lawyer on your facts.

Check a past matter against its contract

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See the sample report for the format, read more on the home page, or ask for a free pilot through our contact form.

Sources

All accessed on 8 October 2026.

  1. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Agreement for Construction of National Highway Works, February 2019, copy hosted by NHIDCL: Clauses 1.2, 8.3, 10.5, 13.2, 21.5 and 27.13. https://www.nhidcl.com/sites/default/files/tenders/tendors/uploads/15bc8/EPC%20Agreement.pdf
  2. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, circular No. H-25011/02/2025-P&P dated 12 January 2026, revising the dispute resolution chapter for BOT (Toll), HAM and EPC projects. https://morth.nic.in/sites/default/files/circulars_document/Circular%20dated%2012.01.2026.pdf