Delays rarely start as delays
On most Bali sites a delay is visible weeks before anyone calls it one: a crew moved to another project, materials arriving late, a phase that “just needs a few more days”. By the time the contractual completion date passes, the real issue is usually not time but money — payments have run ahead of the work.
Step 1 — Establish the facts
Before any discussion, get three things on paper:
- Work in place. A physical measurement of what is built, by trade and phase, with photos.
- Money paid. Every payment to the contractor and, if the owner has paid suppliers or workers directly, those too.
- Contract position. Scope, exclusions, programme, variation procedure, penalties and termination clauses.
The gap between the value of work in place and the money paid is the number that decides everything else.
Step 2 — Agree the financial position
Meet the contractor — on site if possible — and agree in writing where the project stands: what has been paid, what has been built, what is owed or overpaid, and which variations are approved. Without this, every later discussion restarts from opinions.
Step 3 — Change how money moves
The most effective fix is simple: payments follow verified work.
- Progress claims are checked against measurement before payment.
- Materials are paid when they are on site, not when ordered — or bought directly by the owner and deducted from the contractor’s claims.
- A retention is kept until completion and defects are fixed.
Step 4 — Reset the programme
Agree a recovery programme with dates the contractor can realistically hit, crew numbers, and the next milestones. Report against it weekly.
Step 5 — Decide on remedies only after steps 1–4
Penalties, suspension or changing contractor are legitimate tools, but they work only when the facts and the financial position are clear. Changing contractor mid-project without them usually adds months and cost, because the new contractor prices in the uncertainty.
Island projects: logistics are part of the schedule
On Nusa Lembongan every bag of cement crosses by boat. On one of our current projects there, delivery planning and on-site storage are managed as part of the programme, and the owners, the contractor and ICM meet on the island at key points to agree the position. See the project.
How to avoid getting here
- A contract with a clear programme, exclusions and variation procedure.
- Items outside the contract budgeted from day one.
- Independent site supervision on the owner’s side.
- No change built before it is priced and approved.
Where ICM fits
We take over or support projects as the owner’s representative, starting with the facts and a payment system tied to verified work. See construction project management in Bali.