Lawyers have defined what penalty for delay means with a clause that establishes a financial consequence for parties that fail to meet agreed-upon contractual deadlines or milestones. Construction companies are quite familiar with this.
Typically, a penalty for delay clause specifies a fixed amount — or a percentage of the contract value — to be paid for each day or week the completion is delayed. The purposes are to reward timely performance and to penalize delays by compensating the non-breaching party for losses.
Estimating construction timelines is no easy task, as hiccups in the process certainly happen — many beyond the contractor’s control. Even so, it is amazing how the work is mostly completed on time — or with very short delays — when additional financial costs hit the company.
With all the media coverage, frustrations and political theater involved in what was the longest government shutdown in history, one has to wonder if a “penalty for delay” clause should be in order — and not one that lawmakers simply pass on to the American citizens. We need a true penalty, one that affects our elected officials personally, in their own pocketbooks.
One may argue that any financial penalty will simply be offset by payments from big donors through fundraising, and that is likely true. So, the better solution may be to also have our lawmakers be held to the same standard most of us are in our jobs: do what you are hired to do or be replaced by someone else who will.
Of course, the devil is in the details, but most of us would pay for a special election to vote in replacements who would do the job they were elected to do without simply placing blame on the opposing side.
The reality is that this shutdown may not have directly impacted all of us, but it did affect millions of Americans, including federal workers who went without paychecks and airline passengers who had their trips delayed or canceled. More importantly, the interruption in nutrition assistance programs created long lines at food banks and added emotional stress for many as we head into the holidays.
Ultimately, our elected officials worked things out, much like the construction companies that eventually finish the projects. Timeliness is the problem, and it shouldn’t be. A penalty for delay, in one form or another, could fix that. What’s the harm?
Have a great week, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
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