Beat the Bullies!

We have recently engaged with a handful of sub-contractors who, when trying to settle final accounts with main contractors, are finding themselves coming up against a brick wall.

The fact is, no matter how much justification is sent to them in the way of breakdowns, site records, narratives etc, the main contractors QS's just simply don't want to pay the sub-contractors what they are due, offering them settlements significantly less than what is fair and reasonable. This leaves the sub-contractors in a situation where they don't know how to move forward to get paid for the work they have done.

Sadly, this kind of 'subbie bashing' is becoming all too common given the squeeze on profit margins we have seen in the past 18 months and seems set to continue. The question here is, how can you protect your business to ensure you don't end up being forced to accept a lowball final account offer just to keep the cashflow moving?

The answer is relatively simple in these circumstances and that is to start adjudication proceedings. We have found that in a large majority of these circumstances, just starting adjudication proceedings will make the main contractors sit up and take a sensible approach to the final account, helping the sub-contractors reach a favourable settlement and those that don't will generally end up having to pay out the full amount anyway, just with adjudicators fees on top!

The importance here is to move quickly, after all, the quicker you move in these situations, the quicker you will have the money in your bank account.

If you find yourselves in these kinds of situations, please do not hesitate to contact Giles Associates for cost effective solutions to your final account disputes.