A number of factors influence the reliability of these records, as
evidential aspect of the analysis, including, documenting the records
first-hand, at the time of the event or shortly afterwards
(i.e., contemporaneously), and as part of formal and regular business
process (Pickavance 2005). Planning and programming procedures
over the whole spectrum of the function should ideally
ensure that kept records meet these requirements. Yet, many delay
claims continue to be unsuccessfully resolved due to a lack of relevant
contemporaneous records (Jergeas and Hartman 1994; SCL
2002), despite the fact that proper recordkeeping has long been emphasized
as a recommended good practice. Lack of contractual requirements
in U.K.-based projects on documentation of project
progress records is one of the key reasons attributable to this problem
(Carmichael and Murray 2006).