Notice Builder
Notice Builder is the engine that drafts a contractual notice, with its deadline, when something happens on site. It reads the contract, finds the governing clause, computes the deadline from the event date and drafts the serve-ready notice with recipient, delivery method and a letter that cites the contract clause. It is drafting assistance, not legal advice.
What does the Notice Builder do?
Most construction disputes that fail do so on a notice technicality, not the merits: the notice was late, went to the wrong person, or went by the wrong method, and a legitimate delay or change claim was waived. Notice Builder closes that gap. You tell it what happened — the event type and a short narrative — and give it the contract. It finds the notice provision that governs that event type, reads the notice period, and computes the deadline from the event date you supplied.
It then drafts a complete, properly-addressed notice: the notice type, the deadline (with the clause it came from and days remaining), who must be served and by what delivery method, the letter itself, the governing clauses it relied on (quoted so you can verify the read), and the supporting documents to attach. A confidence score is shown; below the threshold the result is flagged REVIEW.
The engine is conservative about facts: the narrative comes from what you describe, the contractual assertions come from the clauses it cites, and where a needed fact is missing it leaves a marked placeholder rather than inventing one.
Notice Builder is a drafting tool for construction professionals. It is not a lawyer and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Notice requirements, day-counting, and waiver consequences are legal questions — the engine surfaces the clause it relied on and the deadline it computed so a human can check both, and for high-stakes claims you should have counsel review the draft before it is served.
When should I use the Notice Builder?
Use Notice Builder when an event on site triggers a notice obligation: a delay event, a differing site condition, a directive to proceed without a signed change, non-payment, or a claim you need to preserve.
- A delay event — owner-caused delay, late owner deliverable, or differing weather. Draft the delay / time-impact notice the same day to preserve the schedule claim.
- A differing site condition — unforeseen rock, contaminated soil, an unmarked utility. The clause usually has a short stop-and-notify trigger.
- A directive to proceed without a signed change — protect the right to be paid with a constructive-change notice before the change order is papered.
- Non-payment — a pay application unpaid past the contract window. The notice is the predicate for suspension, interest, or lien rights.
- Before a claim — claim-preservation and acceleration notices keep the door open while the commercial conversation continues.
What do I provide to the Notice Builder?
The contract and what happened. Paste or upload the contract text (prime contract, subcontract, or the relevant general conditions — the full agreement is best so the engine can find the clause, the period, the designated recipient, and the required delivery method). If Contract Review already ran, the contract carries straight over on the chain.
Pick the event type — delay, differing site condition, change directive / constructive change, non-payment, claim preservation, or acceleration — and describe the event in a sentence or two, including the date it occurred and the impact: "Owner's structural RFI response returned 9 days late on 6/3; steel erection on hold; crane on standby."
How do I run the Notice Builder?
To run Notice Builder, open it, provide the contract, select the event type, describe what happened, run the draft, check the deadline and the cited clause, then edit and serve the notice.
Open the engine
Sidebar → Engines → Notice Builder (Post-award).
Provide the contract
PDF or pasted text. Or chain in from Contract Review — the contract carries over automatically.
Select the event type
Delay, differing site condition, change directive, non-payment, claim preservation, or acceleration.
Describe what happened
A short narrative with the event, the date, and the impact. This is what the formal notice is written around.
Run the draft
20–40 seconds.
Check the deadline and the cited clause
Confirm the engine found the right notice provision and counted the days correctly — both are shown with the draft.
Edit and serve
Put it on letterhead, adjust the language, have counsel review where the stakes warrant, then serve by the method the contract requires. Export to PDF from the result.
How do I read the Notice Builder results?
The result shows the deadline, the notice type, who to serve and by what delivery method, the letter, the governing clauses and supporting documents, and a confidence indicator with a REVIEW flag.
The date to serve by, computed from the event date and the clause's notice period, with the days remaining. The single most important output — shown in red.
The kind of notice the event calls for (e.g. Notice of Delay & Intent to Claim), framed under the matching contract provision.
Who must receive the notice and by what method (certified mail, designated portal, email to the owner's rep) — read from the contract's notice provisions.
A complete, serve-ready notice: reference line, statement of the event, contractual basis, reservation of rights, and a request to confer. Ready to paste onto letterhead or export to PDF.
The clauses the draft relied on, quoted so you can verify the engine read the contract correctly.
The records to attach or reference so nothing that proves the claim is left out (date-stamped correspondence, the affected schedule activity, cost logs).
How clearly the engine found the notice clause and period. Below the threshold the result is flagged REVIEW — have counsel confirm the type, the deadline, and the draft before serving.
Every control, explained
Run draftConsumes one run. 20–40 seconds.
Contract textPDF upload or pasted text. The agreement the engine reads for the notice clause, period, recipient, and method.
Event typeSelects which family of notice clause the engine looks for and how the letter is framed.
Event detailsYour narrative of what happened, when, and the impact. The factual basis of the notice.
Export PDFRenders the drafted notice as a PDF for letterhead or filing.
Chain from Contract ReviewCarries the reviewed contract into Notice Builder so you never re-upload it.
Sources
- FAR 52.236-2: Differing Site ConditionsAcquisition.gov, Federal Acquisition RegulationThe federal clause on written notice of, and adjustment for, site conditions that differ from the contract.
- Summary: A201-2017, General Conditions of the Contract for ConstructionAIA Contract DocumentsThe AIA overview of the general conditions that set out the rights and duties of owner, contractor and architect.