ABSTRACT
One of the fundamental issues associated with an increasing population is the inordinate demand for houses, schools and hospitals. While houses provide shelter and schools provide the suitable abode of teaching and learning, hospitals provide the environment for extending welfare services to the teaming population. Hence, not only does the government vote huge sums of money for the provision of these basic facilities, in recent times, but individuals and coporation also invest heavily in them for the purposes of promoting business. And this demand is expected to be on the increase as long as the population continues to increase. These facilities (houses, schools, and hospitals) may otherwise be known as building products; the production of which involve the participation of many parties, each entering it at different time and with different interest. Principal of these parties are the financer of the projects called the employer, and the executor of them called the contractor. In between exist the consultants who, by mandate and agreement, see to the effective and proper erection and completion of the projects. These projects are usually executed by means of contracts. In order to protect the diverse interests of the parties to the execution of the projects and the survival of the projects themselves, certain terms and conditions that define duties and responsibilities that are obligatory on the parties to the contract for the execution of the projects usually form part of such contracts. These terms and conditions have undergone the test of time, and are usually standardized into suitable forms. The inclusion of these terms and conditions not-withstanding, huge amount of claims are frequently instituted and collected on the building projects. Perhaps, that is why there is rampant saying that final project prices these days usually over-run their initial estimates by unpardonable margine.