Challenge every deduction in writing the week it lands
A deduction challenged the week it lands can still be answered, while one left until the final account has had months to settle in. A short written challenge costs a paragraph and keeps every line open.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Why it matters
Deductions rarely get argued at the time. Each one is small, and the relationship matters more than a cleaning charge. Your main contractor reads that silence as acceptance, and so, often, does whoever later decides the dispute. By the final account the site team has moved on and the area has been handed over. The facts that would have answered the charge have gone. There is the notice to check too. A deduction from an interim payment needs a valid notice under section 111 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Whether it had one is easiest to check the week it happens, while the dates are in front of you.
How to do it
- Read every Payment Notice and Pay Less Notice the day it arrives, and compare it line by line with your application.
- Log each deduction in one register: the date, the amount, the description, the notice it came in and who on site knows about it.
- Send a written challenge within the week. Ask for the basis in your subcontract, any notice to remedy, the evidence and the cost build-up.
- Put a chase in the diary for any charge still unanswered by the next payment cycle, and keep every reply with the register.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A partitioning subcontractor's Pay Less Notice for month 5 carries three new deductions. They are £1,800 for cleaning, £950 for a damaged door and £2,400 for attendance. The commercial manager logs them the day the notice arrives.
What happens
- The commercial manager sends the challenge on day 4, asking for the basis, notice, evidence and build-up of each line.
- The main contractor sends a cleaning contractor's invoice covering three floors. The subcontractor never worked on two of them, so the main contractor withdraws £1,200 and the subcontractor accepts £600.
- The main contractor produces nothing for the attendance charge and withdraws it.
- The door photograph shows the damage in the subcontractor's area, so the subcontractor accepts that charge.
The three deductions
| Deduction | Taken | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning | £1,800 | £600 accepted, £1,200 withdrawn |
| Damaged door | £950 | Accepted |
| Attendance | £2,400 | Withdrawn |
The outcome
The main contractor credits £3,600 in the next valuation. Left to the final account, the same three lines would have been argued from memory against a year of the main contractor's figures.
To have this set up for you, see our Contra-Charge Prevention service.