Letter of Intent Loss Prevention
PreventionOptional monthly check5 working days
Starting under a letter of intent? Check its limits before committing labour, materials or money.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Get a free report on your claim. About three minutes; no obligation.
The problem
Work is starting before the subcontract is signed, but the letter of intent’s spending cap, expiry date or payment terms are unclear. Early orders or work may exceed what the letter covers.
Already beyond its cap or expiry? See Letter of Intent Claim. Subcontract ready to sign? See Pre-Signing Contract Review.
The solution
We check the letter against your quotation and planned work, draft proposed changes and set up controls for its cap, scope and expiry. Starting this week? That check comes first.
You decide whether to start. Your solicitor advises on whether the letter is legally binding.
What you get
You receive a written record of agreed terms, gaps and proposed changes, supported by a cap tracker, deadline diary and extension routine with a named owner. The work includes team training, a live-month trial and a handover when the subcontract arrives.
Includes a Handover Pack: key dates and sources, next steps, likely responses, scope limits and any ready-to-send letters.
Fee: Fixed fee agreed before work starts. Optional support has a fixed monthly fee and ends when the subcontract is signed or you no longer need it.
Need it faster? Ask on the first call: an express turnaround is quoted in writing where the diary allows it.
How it works
You tell us about the letter
Start with a free call and send the letter, quotation and supporting papers. We confirm the fixed fee before you decide.
What you get: A written scope, fixed fee and the date you get the findings
- A
The letter of intent or order, as issued
The letter or order exactly as it arrived, with any unsigned subcontract, terms or schedules sent with it, as PDFs or scans. If you were told to start by email or on a call, send the email or your note of the call.
Where to find it: Usually attached to an email from your main contractor's commercial team, or in its procurement portal under the project.
Why we need it: The check is a close read of what the letter allows, caps and leaves out. The gaps are often in the documents it refers to, not in the letter itself.
How we will use it: We read the cap, scope, price basis, expiry and payment route from it, and build the list of gaps against it.
- B
Your quote and the tender correspondence
The quote as sent, with its date, reference, exclusions and assumptions, and the emails that followed it, forwarded as the original messages.
Where to find it: Your estimator's sent items, or the tender folder for the project.
Why we need it: We read what the letter allows against what you priced. Otherwise a letter that quietly cuts the price or widens the scope goes unnoticed.
How we will use it: We compare the letter's scope and price basis with your quote line by line and put every difference into the gaps list.
- C
The drawings, specification and programme you priced from
The revisions you actually priced, with their dates, and the programme or start date the main contractor has given you.
Where to find it: The tender folder, or the document register your main contractor issued with the enquiry.
Why we need it: A letter that refers to a later revision or an earlier start than you priced moves the risk before a single gang arrives.
How we will use it: They fix the scope the letter is checked against and the date the working rules start from.
- D
Your plan for the first weeks on site
What you expect to commit before the subcontract is signed: labour, material orders, plant and any design, roughly costed.
Where to find it: Your contracts manager's mobilisation plan or the first cost forecast. A short email is enough if nothing is written down.
Why we need it: A cap is only safe if it is bigger than what you will have committed by the time the subcontract should arrive.
How we will use it: We set the cap against these commitments, and the cost warning in the working rules is set from them.
- E
Your cost report, each month, if you take the monthly check
Committed and spent cost to date on the job, in whatever form your system produces it.
Where to find it: Your accounts or job costing system.
Why we need it: The monthly check reads committed cost against the cap, and an invoice total alone arrives too late to warn you.
How we will use it: Each month we read it against the cap, the expiry and the authorised scope, and flag anything close to a limit.
Copies are fine. Send what you have and we will tell you what's missing.
- A
We check what the letter really covers
We read the letter and everything it refers to. We check its cap, scope, price, expiry date and payment terms against your quote and your first weeks on site.
What you get: Findings on the cap, scope, price, expiry and payment terms, set against your quote
You send the proposals before you start
We turn each gap into a short proposal for you to send in your name. Each point is then agreed or recorded as open, and you decide whether to start.
What you get: Short proposals to close each gap, ready to send in your name
We set your team's working rules
The cap gets a warning in your cost system and the key dates go in the diary. One of your team asks for more money or time before either runs out. We take everyone through it.
What you get: Working rules: a cap warning, a diary of key dates and the named person's duties
You run the rules for the first month
Your team runs the rules for a month. We check it and fix anything that slipped. After that, you choose whether we keep checking each month.
What you get: A written check of your first month, with anything that slipped put right
We hand over the checked letter and the working rules
Get a free report on your claim
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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.
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Already dealing with it? Letter of Intent Claim.