AboutPeter M. Elliott Expertise First response to queries regarding extensions of time, variations orders, site instructions and payment using FIDIC and other forms of Conditions of Contract, based on English Law, and derivatives only.
Experience Value . . .
It's unwise to pay too much, but it's unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it's well to add something for the risk you run.
And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.
. . . John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
"We are too poor to buy something cheap"
.Romanian Proverb 2002
A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.
George Herbert (English poet 1593-1633)
I said it in Hebrew, I said it in Dutch,
I said it in German and Greek:
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is what you speak!" Hunting of the Snark - Lewis Caroll
Match your presentation to the reader!
The joy of food lasts but an hour, of sleep but a day, of a woman, but a month, but the joy of a building lasts a lifetime. Syrian proverb.
Comments and observations leading to improvements in the translation of FIDIC Red & Yellow books into Romanian prior to approval by FIDIC (reference 'Preface to the Romanian edition')
Question I'm in the UK
I did a load of brickwork on an extension for a building company last year.There was no price agreed it was on day work . The builder supplied all the materials, and most days laboures to mix up. During the job the owner didn't seemed to be very happy with the work, so we did what the customer wanted. I got the job finished and was paid by the builder for the work no problems.
The builder rang me up 2 days ago and said that i'm in serious trouble because the client doesn't want to pay the final payment because of the mortar in the brickwork, he thinks it isn't strong enough. The client is getting the mortar analized. I've been bricklaying for 13 years and i know that the mortar is 6-1 which is strong enough. What advice could you give me
Answer Hi Gavin,
Firstly please accept my apologies for a delayed response as I have been traveling between Bucharest and Athens and back during the past week and trying to explain to lawyers that pay when paid clauses are unacceptable.
The comment 'not strong enough' is irrelevant. How do you define 'strong enough'? The work was either compliant or non-compliant. If it was compliant, no complaint. If it was non-compliant, then offer to correct the default? Ask the owner to put his complaint in writing with specific areas of non-compliance.
Were you given a specification for your work; strength of mortar, straightness of courses, vertical and horizontal alignment etc.? If you had a specification, did you work to it? If not, then your work should be fit for purpose, relative to the 'normal' standards of the industry. If the work was to the normal standards, then the owner would find it difficult to impose a penalty or to withhold payment. The owner has a duty to mitigate (reduce the effect of) any mistakes. Thus he should have made his comments known at the time. Also, if he proved correct, then he must allow his contractor to remedy the error. He does not have the right to withhold payment or impose a penalty.
Alternatively, it would seem that, effectively, you were working as an employee rather than a subcontractor, as the builder provided all your materials, assistance and access and directed your work on a daily basis. Thus the builder would be responsible for any losses or the cost of corrections.
Finally, I know that you are upset because someone is criticizing your work and withholding payment, but I would suggest the softly softly approach. Discuss the problem with the builder and see if there is a way to cool the situation. Find out what the owner is really trying to do? Is he trying to get an unfair reduction in his bill (surely not!) or is his partner giving him a bad time and he needs to take it out on someone? Once you know the hidden agenda, then the two of you can solve it. In the end, do you or the builder have the time and resources to fight the owner? Can you both accept the slur on your reputation, because a disgruntled owner will spread the news as far as possible?
There are some general comments in a rather disordered way, but I hope that you understand the general line and that they are helpful to you. Please come back with a follow up if there is anything which I have misunderstood.
