Weather is a big component that impacts schedule. Those real impacts should not impact the contractual end date or substantial completion date, except for extreme circumstances such as Hurricane, Flood or other act of god. The contractor should expect regular rain days and standard seasonal weather should be built into their schedule and are expected to be mitigated by the contractor.
In the north east it is common for contractor to exclude winter concrete. Concrete can be poured in winter it just costs more because of the use of hot water, additives and heating. I have even had contractors exclude winter concrete on jobs that will require it according to the given schedule. The exclusion of winter concrete should be relegated to a cost only exclusion. Do not let a contractor say they excluded winter concrete therefore you they need a time extension of several months to shut down over winter. I would suggest that winter concrete should be an allowance number as it is a question as to exactly how many concrete pours will be made requiring the additives, heat blankets etc.
I also had a project that had an incomplete façade during Hurricane Sandy. We got lucky and there was minimal damage so work was not drastically set back. Workers could not get to the site for a several days which did impact the schedule along with the need to replace some drywall which needed to be replaced. In the end granted a two week extension. Of course that extension came with extra general conditions and general requirements.
If people are on site performing work it doesn't matter what the weather is no delay should be granted. When it comes to seasonal weather - rain, snow, heat, cold even if no work is performed because of it no delay should be given unless it is out of the norm. Think of the extended period of rain California recently received. It needs to be out of the typical both in quality and quantity for granting a delay should be considered.
If a contractor is behind schedule of their own accord and they cannot finish the work because of weather or have to take extra measures to perform in non ideal conditions they should cover any associated costs.
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