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Happy ever after
Main contractors and subcontractors make all kinds
of rash promises during the courting stage. Then they quarrel. A
new toolkit from the National Specialist Contractors Council
aims to keep things sweet to the end
“Having lovingly promised each other the
moon in contract, Mr Main Contractor and Ms Subbie start
arguing. The toolkit aims to stop the rows”
This toolkit is the best I have seen. It’s
got spanners for turning things around, wrenches for wriggling
things free and chisels for carving things out. It’s even got a
mallet for thumping and a stick for poking. Every main
contractor will want this toolkit, but it’s not for them. No,
this is a toolkit for subcontractors.
Last week, the National Specialist
Contractors Council published the Specialist Contractor’s
Toolkit. The idea is to remind us that the putter-upperer firms
actually do the work on site; that the subcontractor is the most
important outfit in UK construction. And if main contractors
want to do a decent job for their employer, it’s not a good idea
to bamboozle the people who do the work. On that note, I like
the way the toolkit starts: “Main contractors’ enquiries ask for
the moon on a stick.”
True, but in that courting stage of “getting
into contract”, it appears from the contract at least that
Ms Subcontractor was willing to give Mr Main Contractor the moon
… and the stars on top. Part 1 of the toolkit is all about
courting. There is a first-class analysis of what the main
contractor’s enquiry hopes the subcontractor will fall for. In
short, the toolkit recognises that of the mass of bumf in the
enquiry, the specialist won’t have time to read it all. Then the
subby is cutely told how to get shot of the hidden scorpion on
page 81. Damn it, the toolkit tells the subcontractor how to
bid.
The second part of Part 1 provides the tools
for those famous “negotiations”. Do get the toolkit for this bit
about the pre-contract meeting. The subcontractor is urged to
ask himself: am I being railroaded or bullied? Part 1 then says:
“Don’t sign the minutes of the pre-contract meeting before you
leave.” Cool off, go away, draw breath. A bright orange toolkit
page even suggests wheezes and weasel words in those
pre-printed, pre-contract questionnaires, which eventually
entitle the other fellow to eat the subby.
Part 1 doesn’t stop there. It explains the
legal tools (without legalistic language) about crystallising
the contractual agreement. The tool asks: what actually is the
work to be done? Next it asks: what actually is the price, what
actually are the attendances (those bits included free of
charge) and what actually is designed by others?
It asks when the work will start on site and
when it will finish. Yes, it wants the dates. It goes on to ask
if the work is phased and, if so, what are the dates of phases?
Wow, it even asks for lead-in times for material procurement and
dates to go in the contract.
Having lovingly promised each other the moon
in the contract, what happens next? The couple start arguing,
says the cynic. Well, the toolkit aims to stop the rows. Having
organised the deal at Part 1, the idea is to use Part 2 tools to
manage the deal. These tools are for recording and reporting,
and for those confounded changes to the programme. There are
tools to manage quality, tools to manage variations, tools to
manage the accounts, for interim applications, for valuations
and for money due dates. A tool even exists to identify when the
cheque is to arrive.
And if Mr Main Contractor is not minded to
take my advice and get the toolkit, he should think again. There
are two pages headed: “Top 10 tricks for avoiding or delaying
payment”. The toolkit is talking about ducking and diving, and
main contractors need to read it.
Part 3 covers the period when the work is
finished. Now comes the bit concerning the final account. If it
all goes wrong, there are tools galore.
This impressive endeavour is a collaboration
between solicitor Wedlake Bell and a team from the National
Specialist Contractors Council: Justin Perry, Jo Simcock and
Suzannah Nichol.
This is no blunt instrument, just a set of
tools to make building better. Main contractors want better
subcontractors; the days of screwdrivers for screwing are long
since gone.
Readers are invited to forward recent
judgments for reporting in this column (with full
acknowledgement) to: Tony Bingham, 3 Paper Buildings, Temple,
London EC4Y 7EU. DX: 37164 Biggleswade
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