Witholding Notices.......

About three months ago, my firm was served a "withholding notice", this was following practical completion (about two months earlier) and was the final invoice and the largest on the project.

The withholding notice by the employers agent and unqualified contract administrator, simply stated the following

"our client has experienced extensive problems with there plumbing a report shall follow and I confirm it is our intention with withhold the final invoice"

The notice come completely out the blue, no prior notice and or issued raised, the employer has been in occupation since January 2011 at the property.

I commenced investigating the matter, a meeting took over a month to arrange to simply get access to view the "extensive problems".

I investigated the issues, and they were to say the least minimal for example;

Tap dripped for approx 12 seconds after turning off
The shower valve had sheared off - This was a free issue fitting
Alleged leak to underfloor heating system, this was installed, designed and manufactured by a manufacturer and commissioned in November 2010.

We offered to resolve them but the employers agent was always putting up reasons to prevent us from resolving.

I then received an email stating that I am clearly not interested in resolving the issues, I have over 14 emails chasing them and attempting to make arrangements to resolve the issue.

I am not a qualified Building Surveyor but have been doing this job for over 10 years now.

A withholding notice is a function under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 as brought into law by the labour government at the time.

A couple of points, I note:

Failure to provide an effective notice means that the party seeking to rely on
the notice is denied the right to deduct money by way of withholding

Section 111 (2) of the Act states a notice must specify;

(a) the amount proposed to be withheld and the ground for withholding payment;
or

(b) if there is more than one ground, each ground and the amount attributable to it.

Finally a notice must be issued within a timeline under the final payment date (could also be refereed to as the payment due date, unless noted otherwise)

The Act does not state precise wording and there are many cases heard in court where the sitting judge at the time states the issuing party must provide detailed and concise information to the beneficiary of the notice.

Under the Construction and Engineering disputes pre action protocol guidelines, we have commenced proceedings which essentially means, we would be lucky to be in court by month five of the proceedings, but we are willing to stick with this case.

We are two months into the process, wish me luck.....

Some good links

Witholding notices http://www.thkp.co.uk/media/bulletins-new/Withholding%20Notices%20-%20June%2008%20Newsflash.pdf

Witholding Notice Template http://www.arvsurveying.co.uk/withholdingnotice.html?gclid=COz1rMyZ7KkCFQMLfAodOW4Obg

Witholding Notices http://www.rixandkay.co.uk/sussex-solicitors-blogs-news/withholding-notices-in-construction-disputes-some-points-to-note.html

Risks of working abroad.............

Risks of Working Abroad?


Sorry for the dramatic photo however, my brief blog relates to my approach to work in Libya.

In mid 2010, I was approach by a government funded organisation to consider working in Libya and Dubai to provide building services, having worked in Dubai, Trindad and America, I am not adverse to working abroad.

Having taken a business trip in July 2010 to Dubai to meet some former colleagues, it was clear the market was still struggerling. Whilst my company did not incur any bad debts in Dubai the stories I heard following the collapse of the property market in Dubai were Horrific. The Sunday Times reported on 14th December 2009 that UK contractors lost £250 million, this does not include all the Turkish, Indian and US contractors working in this region as indeed others.

Back to my Blog, I did not take up the immediate offer of exploring work in Libya but kept my eye on progress and I was looking at Mexico due to potential growth in that region too.

I continued doing some basic research and the organisation remained in contact and they convinced me to attend a networking event regarding business in Libya in Pall Mall. I was personally very confident of my understanding of the status of Work in Dubai, but having not ever been to Libya before, I was apprehensive and keen to understand more. I attended the networking event and meet a large number of contractors and consultants, some of which were working in Libya already, also a number of extremly diligent experienced professionals who were attending the exploration trips which were run on a monthly basis to Libya through this organisation.

I was left convinced this would be a great oppertunity for our firm, so three weeks later I was in Libya. You can't get Libyan currency in the UK, which I thought was odd but managed to purchase some at Tripoli Airport. I caught the group coach to our Hotel where I managed to converse allot of interesting people, mainly Architects and Consultants. I was the only Contractor on this trip.

The organisation arranged for meetings for us all to attend during our trip, my first day was interesting. I had meetings with developers and other contractors and we did a couple of presentations and the day finished that evening around 11pm. What was very evident from the meetings, was payment was a big issue. One Indian contractor, claimed they were owed £180 million from 3 months ago, however this was usual practice of late payment.

They were confident that payment would be made but needed a number of "fees" to be paid in order to gain payment. This specific contractor had been working in Libya for over 25 years so they were very experienced in dealing with these issues and can only assume this was factored in there pricing. Another consultant I saw explained "it's a who you know policy" in order to get paid and indeed gain work. "It's customary that you get paid a 20% desposit but you need to work hard to be paid the interim payment thereafter under the contract (sic)" Said another consultant.

I had offers from people who could introduce me to work, and others wanted to partner with me, I had various other potential opportunities to report back home. Aside from the payment issues, all seemed fairly positive about business development and working in Libya. I had lots of ideas, some of which were even outside of the construction industry from spa products to basic material supplies such as concrete blocks.

The clear undertone (to me although not said directly) of the entire trip was that the Libya economy relied heavily on Government business and trade, even private companies had direct links to the government and they needed these links to enable to trade successfully.

Within the party I was with, there were lots of consultants whom were extremly motivated about working in Libya to the point they would walk or travel for miles to attend a meeting for the other party to not even turn up or leave them waiting for hours.

I booked my tickets for December 2010 to go on a trip without the government organisation as I felt it would be better to do the next trip alone. I never took my flight due to work commitments...........

Again, I did not attend in January or February due to work commitments in the UK.

The story of how Libya progressed since February does not need explaining it has been reasonably well covered in the UK and International press, There is now no construction work, most if not all (expat) contractors and consultants have moved out of Libya and construction sites are at a standstill, I have had this confirmed by contacts in the region.

I never worked in Libya in default because of commitments in the UK albeit I was extremely keen to work in the region, Notwithstanding, I was being consistently enticed by this government agency to commence operations in the region.

Now here is the backlash that I personally know about from those who actually gained work in Libya.

An Architect from Kent, who had worked in the UK for 12 years, expanded into Libya 3 years ago and went from 4 staff to 19 just last year. They were owed £343,000 for professional fees, the firm is now in Administration.

A Surveyor in Central London, Appointed on a £42 million scheme,was owed £938,000 in professional fees. This firm I understand is large enough to possibly cope with the debt.

An Architect in Oxford,with a practice of 47 staff had only worked in Libya for 5 months, they were owed £138,000, I understand this will not effect this firm either.

A Componates contractor working in the oil fields was owed £689,000 but apparently last week was somehow paid £138,000.

This is to name a few, I also know via 3rd parties of many many more incidences of payment issues.

On this occassion, I am pleased to have not been working in Libya, but how does one plan for such `political` events. Upto and including February, the government organisation were promoting working in Libya and enticing business in the region.

Reflecting on this I do recall a friend of mine John Cowell (of the Cowell family) told me that "if you need to ask lots of questions in a business deal, don't bother and stick to what you know and feel comfortable with"

This is not something I 100% agree with, but I do give this view some credence.

More recently, I received an email shot from a marketing agency stating Libya still open for business........... is it?

One would imagine once the political situation is resolved, the markets may open again but I am sure this will take along time from now.

This is my personal experience and not reflective of everyones experiences and interested to hear your thoughts.

A Bit of Fun......... All New Husband Store

(PLEASE NOTE, DO NOT READ IF EASILY OFFENDED, THIS IS A JOKE)

I recently got wind of a new store that opened in the United States, is was named "The Husband Store"

This shop was established to enable women may go and choose a husband, among the instructions on the entrance is a description of how the store operates:

"You may only visit this store ONCE, There are six floors and the value of products increase as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item on each floor, or may choose to go upto to the next floor, but you can not go back down except exist the building!

So a women goes into the store to find a husband, on the first floor the sign says

Floor 1 - These Men have Jobs

She is intrigued but continues to the second floor, on the second floor the sign says

Floor 2 - These Men have Jobs and Love Kids

The women reflects and thinks that nice, but I want more.... She continues to the third floor where the sign reads:

Floor 3 - These Men have Jobs, Love Kids and Extremely Good Looking

`Wow` she thinks but feels compelled to keep going and goes to the fourth floor where the sign reads:

Floor 4 - These Men have Job, Love Kids, Extremely Good Looking and Help with the Housework

`oh Mercy me, i could hardly stand it` she exclaimed. Still she goes to the fifth floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 5 - These Men have Jobs, Love Kids, Extremely Good Looking, Help with the Housework and very Romantic

She was so tempted but decided to go to the Sixth Floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 2,167,218 to this floor there is no men on this floor. The floor solely exists as proof that Women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store

Sometime after, the owner decided to open a new Wives Store, Just across the street with the same rules.




The first floor had wives that like making love, the second floor had wives that like making love, have money and like beer, the third, forth, fith and sixth floor have never been visited.

Localism Bill - my view in brief?

I recently attended a networking event hosted by Monopoly Network of London at Reynolds Porter Chamberlin offices and was astonished to learn about the governments Localism bill. It was fascinating to learn the details. however, having been building for some time and been involved on a number of neighbouring issues, I personally find it scary and worrying that all planning permissions now require the support of your local community. I understand fully the intent, however, fail to see how this could work and is a nightmare for litigation and stalling of schemes.

Planning Departments nationally appear to be reducing staff, I was advised during this meeting that one known office has or is reducing its team from 30 to 8 staff. I have been dealing with planners over the past ten years and its can be somewhat complex and challenging at the best of times and fail to see with the limited resources of these government offices how they will manage to deal with this new legislation.

Planners have previously given direction on the local plan and what is likely to be approved or not prior to submitting a formal application by a developer using there pre planning consultation service.

My understanding is that these will become pointless as the success of your planning permission shall depend on your consultation with local residents, local politicians and stakeholders rather than the planning department themselves.

Eric Pickles, Local Government and Communities Sectary said

"The localism Bill will fundamentally shake up the balance of power in this country. It represents everything this government stands for and is the cornerstone for everything we want to do. It will revitalise local democracy and put power back where it belongs - in the hands of the people"

The Localism Bill becomes law at the end of 2011. The bill has split the development community, many suggest the bill will be a Nimby charter , others suggest the proposed proactive collaborative approach with local communities will herald a new era in making planning permissions easier.

I personally can not see how this will make planning easier.

One thing is for sure, the law is changing and those who adapt quickly to it will be the ones who benefit.

I can see many developers using social media in order to gauge and balance local and political views on development opportunities and believe developers will need to embrace this practice in the future. Using the likes of twitter, blogging sites to name a few examples.

Not all the 400 pages of the bill will impact on planning and the development world. However, keys points for projects as are:

Residents and communities will have the power to create Neighbourhood Development Plans, Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders. It takes just 3 people in the local community to create an apposing group, this could be just one house hold.

Developers will be required to consult with local residents before submitting planning applications for schemes. Local people will have a chance to comment and developers must "have regard" to responses received.

The government is abolishing the rights to 3rd party appeals.

I am really unsure about all this personally and welcome your views of the wider developing community and consultants.

summer cleaning

Jobs such as ensuring the plumbing and drains have fully survived the winter are often overlooked, simple cleaning and maintenance should be done to prevent major and expensive repairs.

"Blocked drains and corroded fittings can lead to a multitude of problems, such as water damage from burst pipes, and can prove costly to repair. Dripping taps, toilets that don't flush properly and water coming out of overflow pipes are sure signs that your plumbing needs an overhaul and should be checked as part of the spring cleaning process," said Vast Group Technical Director.

Vast has produced a simple check list for homeowners to ensure problems are identified quickly and that major repair work can be avoided:

• Always know where your main stop valve is located and ensure it is labelled. It is on the incoming mains water supply and is often under the kitchen sink.

• Stop valves tend to corrode slightly with time, so check that it's working by exercising the valve twice from fully open to fully closed and back again (and always close the valve 'half a turn' from fully open once you're done).

• Inspect toilet cisterns both inside and out for operation and wear. If there are any signs of corrosion or leaking, contact a reputable plumber.

• Visually inspect any cold water storage tanks in the attic for leaks, water level, protective lids and thermal insulation. Also, if fitted, check the hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard for signs of damage or leaks and exercise all available valves.

• Install a strainer in plug holes to catch hair and other objects that could block drains.

If you find a problem, or suspect there may be one, have an established plumber inspect pipes for leaks, damage and corrosion. By using a CCTV camera in the pipes, plumbers can inspect and pinpoint exactly where drains are cracked, damaged or misaligned.
Ask the plumber to give a diagnosis of the work needed and provide a written estimate up front. The ones who don't probably have something to hide such as VAT costs or other 'extras'.

Find a plumber that will allow you to pay for a job when it is complete and you are fully satisfied with the work.

Plumbing is becoming increasingly technical. Always seek a qualified professional plumber such as Vast Group. Call them 24 hours a day on 0207 147 9952