The main contractor has taken my figures apart
Their surveyor's response goes through my claim line by line, and some of the hits have landed.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
What's happening?
Your main contractor's surveyor has gone through the claim line by line. The response may point to generous quantities, unsupported rates, costs counted twice, or preliminaries shown only as a percentage. Some of those hits will be fair, and some will not.
Answer on instinct and you risk conceding lines the records support, or defending lines they don't. Each point can touch a different amount and need a different source. A sample check is not a full remeasure, and a review finding is not an agreed concession.
The aim is a clear sort of what is supported, what is disputed, what is missing support and what was only sample-checked. Not every challenge can be answered, and nobody should promise it can.
The solution
Log every point before answering any of them. Record the amount it affects and the evidence or calculation needed to answer it. Mark each as agreed, disputed, partly accepted, waiting for evidence or not yet reviewed. Keep measurement, calculation, legal and programme questions apart, and make the line differences add back to the claim total. Note the response date and who in your business can approve a change.
Delay & Disruption Claim runs agreed sample remeasures and checks rates and build-ups. We report each head with its limits and answer the surveyor line by line. You decide whether to reprice, add evidence or concede, and any concession is approved in writing. The workings are kept so the other side can repeat every change.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A subcontractor's £720,000 claim comes back from the main contractor's surveyor with 34 numbered points. The response is due in 10 days. Each point is logged before anyone answers it, with the amount it affects and the evidence or calculation needed.
What happens
- Six are measurement points touching £140,000 of the claim, and nine are rate points touching £95,000. Four allege duplication worth £28,000, and 15 are general objections with no figure against them.
- The commercial director is named as the only person who can approve a change.
- Sample remeasures are agreed on the two largest measured items, not all six. They find the quantities overstated by £22,000. The other four measured items are reported as not checked to that depth.
- The rate checks support seven of the nine rates from the tender build-ups. The other two are repriced from invoices.
- The duplication points are confirmed on two items worth £11,000. They are rejected on the other two, with the source shown.
- The director approves concessions of £33,000 in writing. Each of the 15 general objections is answered by pointing to the document behind the line.
- Whether any point has a legal consequence goes to the solicitor.
The points and the money they touch
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Claim | £720,000 |
| Six measurement points | £140,000 |
| Nine rate points | £95,000 |
| Four duplication points | £28,000 |
| Concessions approved | £33,000 |
| Claim restated | £687,000 |
The outcome
The claim is restated at £687,000. The workings are kept, so the surveyor can repeat every change.