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Record the works as they stand on the termination day

The moment another firm starts finishing your work, the evidence of what you left behind starts to disappear, so record it on the termination day.

Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.

Why it matters

Every figure in a termination account starts from what was on site on the termination day: work done, materials fixed, materials stored and plant left behind. Within a week the completion contractor, the firm brought in to finish, has built over some of it, moved the rest and started its own records. Those records describe the site as it found it. With no record of your own, you are left valuing your work from your last application and memory. Your main contractor values it from what its completion contractor says was missing. A dated record made on the day, or as close to it as access allows, is the one piece of evidence the other side cannot produce.

How to do it

  1. Ask in writing for access on the day, or the next working day, to record the works. Keep the request if access is refused.
  2. Photograph every area with the date and location, and mark up a set of drawings showing what was complete, part complete and not started.
  3. List the materials on site and off site with their delivery tickets, and the plant and equipment left behind.
  4. Keep the record with the termination documents, dated and untouched, and do all later work on copies.

Example

Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.

The facts

A mechanical subcontractor's subcontract is terminated on a Thursday afternoon. It is allowed back on the Friday morning to collect its tools.

What happens

  1. Two operatives spend the morning photographing every riser and plant room, and a supervisor marks up the drawings as they go.
  2. The stored pipework, valves and fittings in the compound are listed against their delivery tickets: £36,000 of material.
  3. The record is filed with the termination letter the same day.

The outcome

The main contractor's account values the stored material at nothing, saying it was never delivered. The dated photographs and tickets put £36,000 back into the account without argument.

To have this done for you, see our Termination Claim service.