I've had no Payment Notice, no Pay Less Notice, just silence
The notice windows have passed and nothing has come back from the main contractor.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Before relying on the silence, see what to check when no Payment Notice is received.
If your application may not count as the notice, see whether you can serve your own.
What's happening?
Your main contractor has sent no Payment Notice and no Pay Less Notice. Your application may then become the notified sum: the figure it must pay by the final date for payment. That is the default route in section 110B of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. But it only works if your application counts as the notice under your subcontract. So silence is a reason to check, not a result.
Check the basics first. Was the application sent on the right date, to the right person, in the right form? Did a notice arrive by another route, such as a portal? Have later payments, assessments or agreements changed the account? An older cycle may also raise time limits or other legal questions that one missing email cannot answer.
Get it right and the full application is payable now, with the valuation argued later. Get it wrong and a demand for the full sum fails on the first reply, and costs you credibility for the next cycle. Take advice on the legal route before you call a balance recoverable.
The solution
Before relying on the silence, line up your application, the contract dates, your proof of sending and every notice or portal entry. Where a valid application went unanswered by any valid notice, it may stand as the notified sum. If it does, demand it in writing, with the dates.
Underpayment Claim rebuilds the cycle, confirms whether the default route is open and puts the demand in writing. If the sum is still withheld, we prepare the adjudication. Questions on time limits and remedies go to your solicitor with the record. Underpayment Prevention puts every notice window in the diary, so the next silent cycle is spotted the day its window closes.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A groundworks subcontractor applies for £41,500 by email, to the address the subcontract names and on the date it names, with the measure and photographs attached. The subcontract allows 5 days for a Payment Notice.
What happens
- No Payment Notice arrives within the 5 days, and no Pay Less Notice arrives before the final date for payment.
- The cycle record shows the application, the send receipt, the empty notice window and the final date. The subcontract's default clause makes the application the notice.
- The day after the final date, a letter goes to the main contractor. It states the notified sum of £41,500, the dates, the absence of both notices and the interest now running.
- The main contractor replies with a valuation of £33,000 and asks for the difference to be agreed.
- The reply says the valuation is a question for the next cycle or a true value process, and the notified sum is payable now.
The cycle in figures
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application, and notified sum | £41,500 |
| Main contractor's valuation | £33,000 |
| Disputed, to the following application | £8,500 |
| Agreed on the measure in the following cycle | £6,200 |
The outcome
The £41,500 is paid 11 days later. The £8,500 the main contractor disputes goes into the following application, where £6,200 of it is agreed on the measure.