Mr. A. T. B. Shand: ‘I suppose it is unusual for the prisoner to go first, but here I am. I feel a little more uneasy speaking of claims in this august Institution than I might do in other places. I have always thought that if someone changes his mind in structural engineering-be he client, consultant or contractor-he really should not have done so. He should have known what he was going to construct before he started. In other forms of civil engineering, particularly when we go down into the ground, it is impossible to preclude the finding of the unexpected. However, I imagine that changes and variations will always be a part of our working life. We must expect this and not put our heads into the sand. Nor must the formation and submission of claims on
our side be put into your pending baskets, and, more important to me, the adjudication of these claims put into your pending baskets. I am, of course, speaking to both sides and I imagine I am not exactly in the majority tonight.'