Can you advise if it is permitted to put assumptions into a project manager’s assessment? We understand that you cannot as there is no mechanism to revise a project manager’s assessment.
Answer
Where the contract is followed as provided, under clause 61.6 the project manager can state assumptions to the contractor upon which the quotation is based. For there to be a subsequent project manager assessment, one of the four matters in clause 64.1 must have arisen. I cannot see why the assumptions laid down by the project manager in clause 61.6 would not then be followed by the project manager in the event he or she assesses directly, just as he or she follow all other rules such as risk in clause 63.6, the cut-off date in clause 63.1 and so on.
Whereas the project manager’s assessment may not subsequently be opened by the project manager or contractor (unless via adjudication), clause 60.1 (17) must still apply where any project manager’s assumptions used in the assessment are wrong. You are only therefore opening up that part of the assessment associated with the project manager’s assumptions.
