Contract Risk, Change and Claims Programme

Contract Risk, Change, Claims and Dispute Management

Identify contract risk, govern change, preserve contractual position, manage claims and resolve disagreements through disciplined evidence and escalation.

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Course overview

Protect commercial position by controlling risk, change and evidence before disputes escalate.

Contract Risk, Change, Claims and Dispute Management develops the practical capability to recognise commercial risk, manage change events and maintain the evidence needed for fair and defensible decisions.

Participants examine how entitlement can be weakened by unclear instructions, late notices, poor records, unauthorised change and inconsistent administration. The course focuses on prevention, structured analysis, commercial judgement and early resolution rather than adversarial behaviour.

A complex delivery case evolves across the five modules, requiring participants to assess risks, process changes, analyse claim positions, prepare negotiations and select proportionate dispute-resolution routes.

Learning outcomes

What participants will be able to do.

  • Identify contractual and commercial risks across the contract lifecycle.
  • Use risk allocation and contract mechanisms to understand ownership and response options.
  • Establish early-warning, issue and escalation routines for emerging contract risks.
  • Distinguish operational change from contractual variation and determine required authority.
  • Process changes with clear scope, impact, approvals, records and implementation controls.
  • Recognise the basic components of a claim and the importance of entitlement, causation, impact and evidence.
  • Preserve records, notices and contemporaneous evidence without creating unnecessary administration.
  • Assess opposing positions objectively and identify strengths, gaps and settlement options.
  • Use negotiation, escalation and dispute-resolution mechanisms proportionately.
  • Develop practical actions to reduce recurring claims and dispute exposure.

Who should attend

Designed for professionals who need practical, context-aware contract capability.

  • Contract and commercial managers.
  • Project managers and project controls professionals.
  • Claims and change-management personnel.
  • Procurement and supplier-management professionals.
  • Operational leaders managing complex contracted delivery.

Course structure

Five integrated modules from core concepts to workplace application.

The five-day programme is organised into five integrated modules that connect concepts, commercial judgement, practical tools, evidence and workplace transfer.

1

Module 1

Contract risk and allocation

  • Sources of contract and commercial risk.
  • Risk allocation through scope, obligations and clauses.
  • Risk registers, assumptions and dependencies.
  • Early warning and emerging-risk signals.
  • Governance, ownership and escalation.
2

Module 2

Change control and variation management

  • What constitutes change in practice.
  • Instructions, requests and informal scope drift.
  • Authority, approvals and change governance.
  • Time, cost, risk and performance impacts.
  • Change records and implementation control.
3

Module 3

Claims, entitlement and evidence

  • Claim architecture: entitlement, causation, impact and evidence.
  • Notices, timing and procedural requirements.
  • Contemporaneous records and evidence quality.
  • Analysing time, cost and responsibility narratives.
  • Claim preparation and response discipline.
4

Module 4

Dispute avoidance, negotiation and resolution routes

  • Issue escalation and dispute-avoidance behaviours.
  • Without-prejudice and legal-process boundaries awareness.
  • Commercial negotiation and settlement preparation.
  • Mediation, adjudication, arbitration and litigation concepts.
  • Selecting proportionate resolution approaches.
5

Module 5

Integrated case, lessons and risk reduction

  • Complex change-and-claim simulation.
  • Position analysis and evidence challenge.
  • Negotiated resolution exercise.
  • Root causes of recurring contract disputes.
  • Claims and dispute-reduction action plan.

Learning experience

Learn through application, challenge, feedback and commercial judgement.

Scan

Contract risk workshop

Identify risk signals, ownership, contractual mechanisms and early-warning actions in a complex delivery case.

Control

Change-control simulation

Process a change from request through impact analysis, authority, approval and implementation.

Evidence

Claim file challenge

Assess whether notices, records and evidence support a coherent contractual position.

Analyse

Position assessment

Compare competing claim narratives and identify strengths, weaknesses and missing information.

Resolve

Commercial settlement simulation

Prepare and conduct a structured negotiation before formal dispute escalation.

Prevent

Dispute-reduction review

Identify systemic causes and management actions that reduce future claims exposure.

Course completion

Demonstrate participation, application and professional judgement.

  • Participate in risk, change, claims and dispute-resolution case work.
  • Complete the change record, evidence assessment and position-analysis exercises.
  • Demonstrate balanced commercial judgement and disciplined escalation.
  • Prepare a practical claims and dispute-reduction action plan.

Participant outputs

Typical course outputs include:

  • Contract risk and early-warning register.
  • Change-control workflow and change record.
  • Claim evidence checklist.
  • Contract position assessment.
  • Negotiation / settlement preparation sheet.
  • Claims and dispute-reduction action plan.

Delivery options

Choose the format that fits your people and operating environment.

Instructor-led

Live Classroom

Face-to-face delivery with facilitated discussion, commercial cases, simulations, practical tools and immediate feedback.

Instructor-led

Live Virtual Classroom

Interactive online delivery using collaborative workspaces, breakout activities, coached practice and guided application.

Flexible

Blended Learning

A structured combination of preparation, live sessions, applied assignments, workplace tools and follow-up.

Organisation-specific

Corporate and In-Company

Tailored delivery using organisational terminology, contract types, templates, governance arrangements and anonymised cases where appropriate.

Frequently asked questions

Course information and participation.

Is this a legal claims course?

No. It develops commercial and contract-management capability around risk, change, evidence and claims. Jurisdiction-specific legal advice should come from qualified counsel.

Does the course cover delay claims?

It addresses the logic of causation, impact and evidence, but detailed forensic delay analysis is outside the core scope unless specifically tailored.

Will participants practise handling a claim?

Yes. The integrated case requires participants to assess entitlement, evidence, impacts, response options and negotiation strategy.

Can the course be tailored to construction or major projects?

Yes. Corporate versions can use sector-specific change, claims and governance scenarios.

Is dispute avoidance a major focus?

Yes. The programme emphasises early warning, clear administration, proportionate escalation and commercial resolution before disputes become entrenched.

Take the next step

Control change, preserve evidence and reduce avoidable contract disputes.

Discuss a five-day programme tailored to your contract risks, claims environment, change processes and commercial governance.

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INDENTRA may adapt sequencing, exercises and examples to suit the delivery format and participant profile while preserving the stated learning outcomes. Any external examination, accreditation or third-party certification arrangement applies only when explicitly confirmed for the specific offering.