Contract Administration

Question 1

What is the key difference between Contract Administrator and Employers Agent?

Answer 1

Contract Administrator - is for traditional forms of contract and is impartial enforcing the obligations under the Contract.

Employers Agent - is for D&B contracts and is acting on behalf of the employer under the contract.

Question 2

What is NBS Contract Administrator?

Answer 2

NBS CA provides a platform to assist in administoring JCT Contracts. It provides templates and guidance on forms for JCT Contracts.

Question 3

What are the JCT Contract Timeframes for payment notices?

Answer 3

• Contractor required to make a payment application before valuation date.
• Due Date 7 days after the Interim Valuation date.
• Payment notice must be issued by EA no less than 5 days post Due Date.
• Payless notice must be issued no later than 5 days before Final Date for Payment.
• Final date for payment is 14 days post due date.

Question 4

What is the EA payment notice called under JCT MW and IN?

Answer 4

Interim Certificate.

Question 5

What does the Notice of Making Good do?

Answer 5

It confirms that the contractor has made good any latent defects during the rectification period.

Question 6

What is included in the Notice of Completion of Making Good?

Answer 6

• Project Stakeholder details (employer, Contractor, issuer (EA))
• Issue Date
• Contract Date
• Site location
  -Works reference
• Statement of confirming that the works required have been discharged and on the date that this occured.
• Signatures of issuer

Question 7

How long does the contrator have to rectify defects raised after the rectification period?

Answer 7

The Contractor has reasonable time, otherwise the employer can employ someone else to rectify and deduct this from the retention.

Question 8

How long is the latent defects period under the Limitation Act 1980?

Answer 8

6 or 12 years

Question 9

Should PC be issued if defects are present?

Answer 9

This depends on the defects. De mimimis defects can be undertaken post PC.

Question 10

What should you do if the employer is pressuring you to issue PC ahead of when you deem the works to be completed?

Answer 10

Warn client of the risks and then obtain written consent from the client. Written consent should also be sought from the contractor that they will finish any of the outstanding works/snags.

Question 11

What is a latent defect?

Answer 11

A defect that could not have been reasonably discovered through inspection before the completion of the works.

Question 12

For your Residential contract admin job in hornchurch, what other options could you have considered to solve the tenants furniture being left on site?

Answer 12

I considered whether deferring possession o site was an option. You can defer upto six weeks. However due to the tenant staying in an airbnb it was decided it was best to proceed and have the contractor protect adn remove furniture.

Question 13

What were the cost and programme implications for the residential hornchurch project?

Answer 13

No programme impact, however cost of £400 to protect and or remove and store items and return them at completion.

Question 14

What does the CAI include?

Answer 14

Drafted on NBS it includes?
- Contract Details (employer, contractor)
- CAI Date
- Contract date
- CAI number
- Instruction description w/ reference to any design
- Instruction cost

Question 15

What section of the contract does it mention off-site materials?

Answer 15

Section 2.22 Unfixed Materials and Goods

Question 16

What is a Listed Item under the Contract?

Answer 16

a listed item is a material, good or prefab item for inclusion in the works which are listed in the ERs. If a listed item is paid for it becomes the employers property.

Question 17

Why couldn’t you have paid for the material in the York Way lab fit out and taken ownership of it under S.2.22?

Answer 17

Well this particular piece of kit was not a listed items and only listed items apply to this clause.

Question 18

What is a vesting certificate?

Answer 18

It is a document that proves that a material or item will transfer from one party to the other on payment.

Question 19

What are the risks of accepting goods that arent on site?

Answer 19

You can never be sure on the retention of title clause for further up in the supply chain. therefore if the contractor goes pop, although he vested with the employer. the supplier may have no vesting with the contractor.

Question 20

What is a non-completion notice?

Answer 20

The notice of non completion gives formal written notice that the contractor has failed to complete the contract works by the completion date.

Question 21

If the employer wants to leverage liquidated damages what do they have to do?

Answer 21

• Issue non completion notice.
• Issue notice of intention to leverage LDs
• Issue payless notice.

Question 22

What is a letter of comfort, as mentioned in the Camley Street Office project?

Answer 22

In this instance a letter of comfort was a document that said the works would be granted building control approved subject to the approval of a fire damper arrangement, the change of location of a maglock to prevent head collision, supporting calcs to support SBEM and EPC output docs.

Question 23

Under the Letter of Comfort what would have happened should the contractor not have completed the outstanding items?

Answer 23

In addition to not having received PC, under Regulation 18 of the building regs 2022, if the outstanding building regs works aren’t completed in 3 months, the approved inspector will issue a cancellation notice and the works will revert to the local authority for enforcement.

The above would apply after 4 weeks if the building had become occupied.

Question 24

What are liquidated damages?

Answer 24

Are damages paid to cover the loss the client receives as a result of the project being in delay.

Question 25

What were the liquidated damages for the Camley Street project?

Answer 25

Stepped with incremental increases every 2 weeks starting at £5k capping at £20k pwk

Question 26

What does the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act do?

Answer 26

It is intended to ensure that payments are made promptly throughout the supply chain and that disputes are resolved swiftly.

Question 27

What are some provisions of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act?

Answer 27

• The right to be paid in interim, periodic or stage payments
• The right to be informed of the amount due, or any amounts to be withheld.
• The right to suspend performance for non-payment
• The right to adjudication
• Disallowing pay when paid clauses

Question 28

Was there any legal considerations you had to consider when handling and moving tenants belongings?

Answer 28

All tenant communication and dealings was handled by the property manager, who was also our client point of contact, however should this have fallen to me to arrange i would have reviewed the The Interferace with goods act 1977.

Question 29

Explain in detail the reasons you advised the client against including the off-site materials in the valuation at that stage. What risks were involved for the employer by including these costs without the materials being on-site?

Answer 29

• No vesting cert in place
• Should the contractor go bust there may be no recourse to collect the materials from the supply chain.
• Cost wouldn’t be recoverable

Question 30

Describe the process and criteria you used to decide that the materials should not be included in the current payment application. What specific regulations or standards guided your decision?

Answer 30

Sale of Goods Act 1979 and Supply of Goods and Services Act
1982 would be pertinant and relevant legilsation that governs the transfer of ownership of materials which starts by saying that title passes to the purchaser/employer upon delivery regardless of payment.

The RICS also have a guidance note on interim valuations and payments

Question 31

How can you establish a contractors financial stability?

Answer 31

Dun and Bradstreet Rating assesses a companies financial risk.

Question 32

Who must issue the F10?

Answer 32

• Commercial clients
• PD or PC for domestic clients

However the client can instruct others to do this on their behalf however the responsibility still lies with them.

Question 33

What is included in an F10?

Answer 33

• The date of forwarding the notice
• Site adress
• Local authority of the site
• brief description of works
• Details of PC and PD
• Start and finish date of project
• No. of people at work on site
• Client declaration

Question 34

What should be done with the F10?

Answer 34

Issued to HSE and a copy kept on site.

Question 35

What is the CIS and what does it do?

Answer 35

Construction Industry Scheme

• Under the CIS contractors deduct money from subcontractor’s payments and pass it to HMRC.

Question 36

What qualifies you as a contractor under the CIS?

Answer 36

• You pay subcontractors for construction work
• Your business does not do construction work but you have spent more than £3mil on construction in the 12 months since you made your first payment.

Question 37

Why did you increase the level of retention held for the Sandwich fit-out?

Answer 37

• It provided more protection for my client and wasn’t challenged by the contractor.
• Volatile market and allows for potential material price hikes
• Accepted and and fairly industry standard