I can see a dispute coming and my records are thin
The job has turned, the account is going to be a fight, and we already know our paperwork isn't ready for one.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
To make sure every line has its evidence before it goes in, see how to tie every line of the account to a document.
What's happening?
On a job that is going sour, the paperwork is usually thinner than it should be. Instructions were given on site and never confirmed. Delay was absorbed to keep the peace. The diary has gaps. The emails were written to keep the relationship going, not to win an argument later.
None of that matters while everyone is getting on. It matters the day the account is disputed. Wait until then and you lose the context, the original files and the people who can explain them. Items you could have proved become items you can only assert.
The solution
Copy the originals now, unchanged and with their dates. List what each head of the account must prove: the instruction, the measure, the cost, the notice. Record what survives against each. Have your team write down what they remember, dated, and keep it apart from the records made at the time. Note anything that already contradicts you, and ask your solicitor what any notice already sent or received means for your deadlines.
Final Account Dispute Prevention tests the account against the subcontract and the records before it goes in. It shows which gaps can still be filled while people remember. If the account has already been rejected, Final Account Claim rates every head on its evidence and builds your position from what can be proved.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A subcontractor on a £900,000 package can see the account turning. Fifteen variations worth £70,000 were instructed verbally. The site diary has gaps in 3 months, and the emails were written to keep the relationship warm.
What happens
- Before anything is disputed, the originals are copied unchanged with their dates: the site manager's phone photos, the message threads and the mailbox. Working copies are made from those.
- Each head is checked against the subcontract to list what it must prove.
- The variations fall into three groups. Nine worth £46,000 have a follow-up email recording the instruction. Four worth £16,000 have dated photos but nothing in writing. Two worth £8,000 have nothing at all.
- The site manager writes a dated note of each verbal instruction now. It is kept apart from the records made at the time, so it adds to them rather than replacing them.
- One contradiction is found and recorded: an email in which the subcontractor's own director describes one item as being done at no cost.
- The account is put forward with the £46,000 supported, the £16,000 conditional and the £8,000 shown as unproved.
- The solicitor is asked what the subcontract's notice wording does to the verbal items before any of them is pushed.
The verbal variations in figures
| Evidence held | Items | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-up email recording the instruction | 9 | £46,000 |
| Dated photographs, nothing in writing | 4 | £16,000 |
| Nothing at all | 2 | £8,000 |
| All verbal variations | 15 | £70,000 |
The outcome
No dispute has been referred, but the file is now ready for one, with each of the fifteen items marked by what it can prove.