Final Account Claim
ClaimTimetable agreed at scoping
Final account cut, rejected or ignored? We value each disputed item and negotiate an evidenced settlement.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Get a free report on your claim. About three minutes; no obligation.
The problem
Your main contractor’s assessment is well below your account, or your submission has been rejected or left unanswered. If a settlement has been offered, you need a supported view of whether it is reasonable.
Not submitted yet? See Final Account Dispute Prevention. Only retention outstanding? See Retention Claim.
The solution
We check urgent time limits first and refer any risk of a binding final figure to your solicitor that day. Then we value each item and negotiate within the position you approve.
You decide on every settlement. We prepare adjudication figures if needed; legal issues and delay analysis require the relevant specialists.
What you get
You receive an item-by-item valuation identifying the evidence and any gaps, together with a submission and negotiation record in your name. The final record sets out the written settlement, decision or dispute that remains.
Includes a Handover Pack: key dates and sources, next steps, likely responses, scope limits and any ready-to-send letters.
Fee: Fixed fee agreed in writing after we see your account and the response. Each later stage has its own fee agreed first.
Turnaround: the timetable is agreed in writing at scoping and then kept.
How it works
Claim stage: Event
You tell us what happened
Start with a free call. Agree the scope, fixed fee and timetable in writing, then send the records listed below.
What you get: A written scope, fixed fee and timetable
- A
The signed subcontract
A complete PDF with all schedules and amendments.
Where to find it: The commercial folder or the order email.
Why we need it: The recovery runs on the subcontract's own rules and timetable, and every head has to cite its basis from it.
How we will use it: The rebuilt position cites it clause by clause.
- B
The account as submitted
In its original Excel file, not a PDF printout.
Where to find it: Your QS's working file for the submission.
Why we need it: The account as it stands is the raw material. Rebuilding it head by head means reworking its build-ups, which a printout does not allow.
How we will use it: We rebuild it head by head, restructured and evidenced so silence or blanket rejection stops being a workable answer.
- C
Their assessment or rejection, and the full correspondence trail
Forwarded as the original emails, dates, recipients and attachments intact, including the chasers that went unanswered.
Where to find it: The thread with their commercial team; forward it whole.
Why we need it: What they assessed, on what stated grounds, and what they simply ignored shapes the position. Silence you can prove is itself evidence.
How we will use it: We answer their stated grounds head on and put the timeline of unanswered submissions on the record.
- D
Supporting quantities, rates and cost records
Excel spreadsheets, not retyped summaries.
Where to find it: Your QS's measures and your accounts system's cost exports.
Why we need it: The rebuilt account only forces engagement if its figures trace to records the other side cannot wave away.
How we will use it: Each head of the rebuilt position is priced from them, evidence attached.
- E
Variation instructions, valuations and the payment history
The variation tracker in its original Excel file and the full run of applications and certificates, first to last, not a recent selection.
Where to find it: Your QS's variation tracker and the file of applications and certificates.
Why we need it: Variations are usually the largest part of the account. Reconciling them to what was actually certified is where the biggest recoverable sums hide.
How we will use it: We reconcile the rebuilt account to the variation and payment history, so the recovery traces to what happened rather than to what was claimed.
- F
Any period of delay relied on, and who assessed it
The delay analysis or programmer's report you are relying on, as produced, not a summary of its conclusion.
Where to find it: Your programmer's report, or whoever produced the delay analysis you are relying on.
Why we need it: A time-related head needs a period behind it that someone has actually assessed; we value the money, and never assess the delay ourselves.
How we will use it: We carry the assessed period into the position as it stands, adopted and attributed to whoever produced it.
- G
Every offer so far, and the settlement you could live with
The offers and counter-offers as original emails, and your own view of the acceptable range, written down.
Where to find it: The negotiation thread, and your own decision, ideally signed off by whoever in your business actually decides.
Why we need it: What has been offered sets the range the settlement will land in. A floor set before the meeting holds; one set across the table moves.
How we will use it: We run every round against the floor you have set, so no concession is made that would not have been made with time to think.
- H
Any deadline that could end the matter
Any final certificate, conclusive evidence clause, referral period or limitation date, with your solicitor's confirmation of limitation.
Where to find it: The subcontract's final payment and dispute clauses, and your solicitor for limitation.
Why we need it: A deadline can pass unnoticed while the merits are still being worked through. The whole account can then be lost on time before it is argued on its facts.
How we will use it: We check the recovery against every deadline before anything else, so time is never the reason it is lost.
Copies are fine. Send what you have and we will tell you what's missing.
- A
Claim stages: Notice, Entitlement, Evidence, Quantum and Assembly
We work out what your account is worth
We deal with any time limit first. Then we compare their answer with your account line by line, check the proof for each item and put a value on it.
What you get: A short report on what your account is worth and what to do with each item
You approve what goes out
You approve our figures and set, in writing, the lowest sum you would accept. Nothing goes to your main contractor until you say so.
Claim stage: Resolution
We send it and negotiate
We send it in your name, with a date to reply. We log every reply, negotiate item by item and put each round in writing the same day.
What you get: A written record of every round, and what each offer is worth
We prepare for adjudication, if it comes to that
Settling is always your decision. If an item still will not move, you can take it to adjudication, and we prepare the figures and evidence for it.
What you get: The figures and evidence for the adjudication
We close out the account and hand over the pack
Get a free report on your claim
Answer the questions below for a free PDF report by email. Allow about three minutes; choose “Not sure” where needed.
Your report explains where you stand, the next steps to take and the records to gather. It also sets out how we could help for a fixed fee, with no obligation.
Loading the questions.
Prevent it next time
Put a routine in place to reduce the risk of this happening again. Final Account Dispute Prevention.