What is quantum meruit?
Quantum meruit means a reasonable sum for the work done, and it is the usual basis for paying work where no price was agreed.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
The answer
It covers work on a letter of intent that did not fix a price, and work after a contract fell away. It also covers work requested with no contract at all. It can even arise inside a contract that says the work will be paid for without saying how much. To be paid on this basis, you must show your main contractor asked for the work, that you did it and what it was worth. You prove what is reasonable with evidence. Start with a measure of what was built and what it actually cost, plus a fair allowance for overheads and profit. Then show what similar work is worth. Whether you have a right to it on your facts is a question for your solicitor. The valuation is a quantity surveying job, and it should be built before anyone argues it.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A drylining subcontractor has built a staircase enclosure, added by a revised drawing, that no quote or letter of intent priced.
What happens
- The subcontractor measures the enclosure from the drawing it built from and the site records.
- It values the enclosure from its labour and material costs, with an allowance for overheads and profit.
- It checks the figure against its own rates for similar partitions.
- It reconciles the result against what has already been paid.
The outcome
The enclosure now has a value built from evidence and checked two ways, ready for the solicitor to argue the right to payment.
Valuing work done beyond the paper, on evidence, is our Letter of Intent Claim service.