Claim Settlement

Case: Sub Contractor Vs Trade Contractor
The sub contractor was appointed to manufacture, deliver, install and commission £3.25M of switchgear.

Significant problems were experienced with the delivery and installation to site. Equipment positioning was problematic and there were problems following location with other Trades and damage resulted.

We were appointed by the sub contractor towards the end of the final commissioning period.

At this time the majority of final account issues had been resolved leaving us to deal with claim aspects assessed at £600K.

We produced a claim that was forwarded by the trade contractor to the management contractor. Unfortunately because of direct discussions between the two parties, the agreement was to the detriment of the sub contractor.

Contrary to our views, the sub contractor continued to discuss matters directly with the trade contractor resulting in alternative agreements which further limited negotiation of the claim and prevented adjudication which would have provided a positive result.

The sub contractor was further impeded by the extremely onerous bonding conditions that they had taken on with this project. Despite this arrangement, we challenged agreements made between the parties.  Our actions secured a much more favourable result for the sub contractor, in view of all circumstances.

Lesson – Be very wary of bespoke bonding provisions in contracts