Can a Payment Notice show a negative valuation?
A negative figure in a Payment Notice and a right to demand money back from you are two different questions.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
The answer
A negative figure means your main contractor says it has paid you more than the work is worth to date. Whether the notice should show a negative sum depends on your subcontract and the law that applies. So do whether you must repay anything and how it could be recovered. So do not repay anything, and do not assume a negative figure simply counts as nil, until it has been checked. First reconcile the value of the work, the adjustments and the payments against your own records. Then have the notice and any repayment demand checked.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
Your main contractor's Payment Notice says the payments already made to you are more than the value of the work it has assessed to date. It asks for the balance back.
What happens
- You reconcile the value of the work, the adjustments and the payments already made against your own records.
- If the payments do exceed the assessed value, you identify the difference and where it comes from.
- You have the notice and the repayment demand checked before anything is repaid or agreed.
The outcome
You know whether the negative figure is supported and where any excess comes from. Whether anything is repaid is decided only after that check.
To have a negative notice reconciled against your own records before anything is repaid or conceded, see our Underpayment Claim service.