Can they omit work from my contract and give it to someone else?
Only if your subcontract allows it, so check what its omission power permits and what work is really being removed or handed on.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
The answer
Read the signed subcontract, any amendments and the instruction itself. Find the reason the clause allows, the procedure, who has authority and how the omission is valued. The answer can differ depending on whether the work is no longer needed, is going to someone else, or falls under another express term. Do not claim breach or lost profit until that has been properly assessed. Keep the original scope, the instruction, anything showing who is doing the work now, and your cost records. If the meaning of the clause, or what you can recover, is disputed, take it to your solicitor.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A landscaping subcontractor's package includes paving and planting. An instruction removes the planting, and a different contractor later seems to be doing similar work. The subcontractor wants to know what that omission means for it.
What happens
- The subcontractor compares the original scope, the omission wording, who authorised the instruction, the correspondence and the evidence of the replacement work.
- It records what the omission costs it.
- It takes legal advice before deciding what the omission amounts to or pricing a remedy.
The outcome
The facts may be relevant, but on their own they do not prove a breach or a loss it can recover. That waits on the legal advice.
To have an omission valued with what it costs the rest of your package set against it, see our Variation Claim service.