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Remeasure their figure before you argue with it

Remeasure a sample of the biggest heads in their claim, from the drawings and your own records, before you answer it. Quantities carry more of a claim than rates do, and theirs are usually taken on trust from their own site team.

Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.

Why it matters

Rates get argued in meetings. Quantities get taken on trust, because measuring is slow. So a claim against you often carries generous quantities. The main contractor's site team measured the defect, the rework or the damaged area, and nobody on their side checked. A 10% overstatement in the biggest head is worth more than any argument about rates. Finding it also changes how the rest of their claim is read: it stops being taken as a measurement. Argue only the principle, however well, and their figure stays the only measured number on the table.

How to do it

  1. Rank the heads of the claim by value, and pick the 3 or 4 that carry most of it.
  2. Remeasure a sample of each from the drawings, your handover records and your photos, without working from their figure.
  3. Compare your sample with the claimed quantity, and work out the percentage difference.
  4. Remeasure the whole head where the difference is bigger than rounding would explain.
  5. Record the sample, the method and the result, so you can show the check itself.

Example

Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.

The facts

A groundworks subcontractor receives a £96,000 counterclaim for remedial digging and reinstatement, measured by the main contractor's site engineer. The subcontractor's commercial manager samples it before answering.

What happens

  1. Three of the 10 remedial items, worth £60,000, are remeasured from the drawings, the setting-out records and the subcontractor's own handover photos.
  2. The sample comes out 18% below the claimed quantities, and the gap is the same across all 3 items.
  3. The whole claim is remeasured and comes to £78,700 on quantities alone, before any argument about who caused the defect.

The outcome

The main contractor's surveyor checks the remeasure, comes within 2% of it, and restates the counterclaim. The argument about cause then runs on the smaller figure.

To have this done for you, see our Counterclaim Defence service.