Diarise the final certificate's conclusive evidence period
Diarise the challenge period the day the final certificate arrives, because many standard forms make it conclusive if nobody starts proceedings in time. It can fix quality or the account, and rights that survived the whole job can lapse in the last weeks through nothing but silence.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
For what such a clause can make binding, see what a conclusive evidence clause is.
Why it matters
The final certificate arrives when the job is over, the team has moved on and the account feels finished. It can be the most dangerous document in the contract. If the form makes it conclusive unless proceedings start within a set period, a claim argued for a year can close in weeks. All it takes is the period passing unnoticed. Nobody writes to warn you. The habit is mechanical. The day the certificate lands, read the period from the contract, diarise the end date with a warning well before it, and tell your solicitor.
How to do it
- Read the contract's conclusive evidence clause the day the final certificate arrives, and note what becomes conclusive and when.
- Calculate the end of the period from the date of issue, and diarise it with a reminder at least 3 weeks before.
- Tell your solicitor the same day, with the certificate and the calculation attached.
- Decide, in writing, whether any head of the account needs proceedings started before the period ends.
- Instruct your solicitor with time to spare if it does, not on the last day.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A subcontractor's final account is still £70,000 apart on two heads when the final certificate is issued on a Tuesday. Its subcontract makes the certificate conclusive on the account unless proceedings start within a stated period from issue.
What happens
- The surveyor reads the clause that afternoon, works out the end date and diarises it with a reminder 3 weeks out.
- The solicitor is sent the certificate and the calculation the same day.
- Negotiation continues, and with 3 weeks left the two heads are still open.
- The solicitor starts the proceedings the contract requires, on the disputed heads only, 10 days before the period ends.
The outcome
The £70,000 stays alive, and 2 months later it settles at £55,000. Had the period passed, the certificate would have fixed the account at the certified figure, and the two heads would have gone.
To have this done for you, see our Final Account Claim service.