Construction Weather Guides
Practical, no-fluff references on weather delays — written for the estimators and PMs who have to argue about them.
Almost every weather delay argument on a jobsite comes down to the same disagreement: the contractor says the ground was not workable, and the owner says it barely rained. Both are looking at the same forecast and reaching opposite conclusions, because rainfall is not the thing that stops work — trafficability is, and it lags rainfall by days.
That gap is where claims are won and lost. An inch of rain costs a sand site nothing and a clay site most of a week. A quarter-inch shower on a hot, dry day evaporates; the same quarter-inch on ground already saturated takes the day. Contracts written around "rain days" do not capture any of this, which is why so many legitimate delays get denied on paperwork rather than on merit.
These guides cover the four things you need to argue one properly: what the contract actually says, how the soil actually behaves, what number to carry at bid time, and what evidence holds up afterwards. Everything here is free to read and none of it requires an account.
How to Document a Weather Delay Claim
The three things every claim must prove, the evidence GCs actually accept, and the five mistakes that get legitimate claims denied.
ContractsAIA A201 §8.3 Weather Delays, Explained
The "abnormal weather" test, the 21-day notice rule, and why §8.3 gives you time but not money.
ContractsUnusually Severe Weather: What Actually Counts
A201, the FAR and ConsensusDocs all hang entitlement on this phrase and none of them define it. What the test really asks, and how to put a defensible number on "unusual."
ContractsFederal Contract Weather Delays (FAR 52.249-10)
Which FAR clause governs your contract type, the 10-day notice trap, and why the anticipated-adverse-weather table in your specs replaces the historical argument entirely.
ContractsConsensusDocs 200 Weather Delays, Explained
The §6.3.1 "not reasonably anticipated" test, the two-stage 14-day and 21-day clock, and the mutual duty to mitigate that A201 does not have.
ContractsHurricane Delays: The Storm Isn't the Claim
Why a hurricane is rarely an abnormal-weather claim, why the contested days are the fortnight after landfall, and why the monthly average is the wrong number on the coast.
BiddingAnticipated Weather Days: How to Calculate Them for a Bid
Why "3 days a month" costs you both ways, and the three inputs that make a number defensible.
SoilHow Long Does Soil Take to Dry After Rain?
Clay vs. silt vs. sand, NRCS drainage classes, and why counting rainfall days alone understates an earthwork schedule by half.
ConcreteConcrete Pour Weather Limits
ACI temperature limits, rain timing, and the evaporation-rate trap that cracks slabs on a beautiful 70°F day.
DataWeather Delay Days by Metro
Ten-year NOAA baselines for 45 US metros: how many workdays each one actually loses to weather, which month is worst, and why two cities with the same rainfall differ by weeks.
AnalysisThe Wettest Month Isn't the Worst Month
Richmond loses more workdays in January than in July on a third less rain. Why spread-out winter rain costs more than clustered summer storms, and what happened when the model was checked against a state contract baseline.
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