Tabitha Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 Hello everybody. I wonder if anyone can offer advice on the following situation:- Builder 1 signed the contract a couple of months ago then kept delaying the start on site date. He has now pulled out altogether before even starting on site. We will have to go out to tender again to find Builder 2. If Builder 2 is £10k more expensive than Builder 1, can we claim the difference off Builder 1? If Builder 2 cannot meet the completion date set for Builder 1, can we claim the weekly rate of liquidated damages off Builder 1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 No you can’t At least he was honest Eventually He could have started the job and tried to work it in with with an over committed workload Move on Dont waste anymore time on him Enough stress without adding to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabitha Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 Thank you for your response. We thought he would be bound by the contract because both parties had signed it. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 Depends on what the JCT contract says about termination or anything specific to this situation. However even if you did go to the trouble of taking action and you won, chances of getting a small builder (I’m assuming your contract isn’t with Balfour Beatty) to actually cough up would be slim. If they do it’ll be on a lengthy payment plan no doubt. Good advice from @nod I would say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 6 minutes ago, Tabitha said: Thank you for your response. We thought he would be bound by the contract because both parties had signed it. Regards The contract isn't yet valid, unfortunately. It doesn't become binding until there has been "an exchange of consideration", which would mean work done and payment made. As no work has yet started the contract is just an agreement that either side can walk away from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabitha Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 Thank you for clarifying that Jeremy. I will be ringing round some new builders today and making sure they are happy to work to a JCT contract before I send them the tender pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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