Pay Less Notice: definition and example
The notice your main contractor must send if it plans to pay you less than the notified sum.
By Jack Butler-Kettle · Updated
Guidance for England and Wales. Check the contract, amendments and facts that apply to your job.
What it means in practice
Read this alongside section 111 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
A pay less notice is part of the payment mechanism for paying less than the notified sum. Content, timing and service are important, including the sum considered due and its basis. A letter alleging defects is not necessarily a valid pay less notice, and a valid notice does not finally decide liability.
Check the document and underlying deduction separately. Underpayment recovery can help organise that distinction and the supporting evidence.
Worked example
The facts
A subcontractor receives a deduction letter before the expected payment.
What happens
It checks the notice deadline, stated sum, calculation and method of service.
It separately examines whether the alleged deduction is justified on the facts.
What this shows
The payment procedure and the merits of the deduction are related questions, but neither replaces the other.