Can I suspend work for non-payment?
Yes, if the notified sum is unpaid after its final date for payment and you give written notice first, but take advice before you stop.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
If payment is already overdue and you are weighing up stopping work, see what to do before you stop.
The answer
The right comes from section 112 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. It applies when a sum due is not paid in full by the final date for payment. You must first give at least 7 days' written notice of your intention, stating the ground. Our payment dates calculator shows the earliest date for one payment cycle. Before you serve anything, check the payment terms, the sum actually due, the final date and the notices. Check the proof of sending, whether the Act covers your contract, and the contract wording. Then think through what stopping would do: safety, remobilisation and your other work. A notice template can organise the information. It cannot decide that suspension is open to you, sensible or lawful, or that you will get your time and costs back. So keep the payment and work records together for your solicitor, and get advice urgently.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A subcontractor is owed £40,000 and the final date for payment has passed. It wants to know whether it can suspend work, and nothing is done until the file is complete.
What happens
- Before any action, it keeps the contract, the application and the notices together.
- It adds the bank record and a list of its current work on site.
- It asks its solicitor whether suspension is open to it and what notice it needs.
The outcome
Nothing stops on the strength of the figure alone. The remedy and the notice come from the advice, and getting time or cost back is not assumed.
Before suspending, Late Payment Claim checks the notice position and prepares the notice of intention for you to serve.