Final Account Dispute
RemedialHourlyFor Subcontractors, Main Contractors & Clients
Where your account is rejected or ignored, I rebuild it as a case and run the correspondence that makes silence stop working.
The problem
The account went in and came back rejected, or never came back at all. Silence and blanket rejection are both positions: they cost the other side nothing while the retention sits with them and your cash waits, and every month of polite chasing confirms that waiting works. What changes the dynamic is a structured case moving on a timetable the other side does not control.
The solution
I turn the account into a case: each head set out with its contractual basis, records and sum, the other side's stated objections answered in writing, and their silence or rejection framed the way a tribunal would read it. The correspondence runs in your name, calmly and on deadlines. If negotiation settles it, it settles with the numbers argued rather than split; if not, the file is already built to hand to whoever conducts an adjudication, every head traced to its documents.
What you receive
The account stops being ignorable. The other side faces a structured case on a timetable, backed by a detailed written report on the account: each head, its evidence and its realistic range. The dispute ends in a negotiated settlement argued on the numbers, or moves to a formal process with the file built to hand to whoever conducts it, not another year of silence.
The Handover Pack accompanies the work with its dates and sources, likely outcomes and responses, scope boundaries and ready-to-send correspondence where needed.
Turnaround: the timetable is agreed in writing at scoping and then kept.
The working days start when the agreed scope and required inputs are available. Optional items do not hold the start unless the agreed scope says otherwise.
How it works
You send me the paperwork
You send everything below in one go.
- A
The final account as submitted, with the build-up behind every head
EssentialWithout it: There is no base to build the recovery from, so nothing else in the review can start.
Where to find it: Your QS's working file for the submission.
Why I need it: The base you map onto
- B
Any Final Account Review already done
OptionalWithout it: The review starts from nothing instead of a position already tested, and work already paid for gets repeated.
Where to find it: Wherever that review was delivered to you: your inbox, or the folder you filed it in when it landed.
Why I need it: The graded position you start from
- C
The counterparty's assessment, as they issued it
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to measure the gap against, so the case is built blind to what is actually being offered.
Where to find it: The thread with their commercial team; forward it whole, including the unanswered chasers.
Why I need it: The other half of the gap
- D
Their stated grounds, in writing
ImportantWithout it: There is no ground on paper to test on that head, so nothing in the case answers what they actually rely on, only what was said on a call.
Where to find it: Their rejection letter, a marked up account, or any schedule they have sent setting out their reasons. If all you have is what was said on a call, send that and say so.
Why I need it: What they actually rely on, as opposed to what was said
- E
The executed contract and every amendment
EssentialWithout it: The account cannot be tested against the rules it has to satisfy, so the case has no anchor.
Where to find it: The commercial folder or the order email.
Why I need it: The valuation rules the account has to satisfy
- F
Variation instructions, valuations and the payment history
EssentialWithout it: The largest part of the case cannot be reconciled, and that is exactly where the biggest recoverable sums usually hide.
Where to find it: Your QS's variation tracker and the run of applications and certificates from the first to the last.
Why I need it: The largest moving part, and the reconciliation
- G
Any period of delay relied on, and who assessed it
ImportantWithout it: The prolongation head is carried with no period behind it, and its figure stands on your own account alone, unattributed to anyone who assessed it.
Where to find it: Your programmer's report, or whoever produced the delay analysis you are relying on.
Why I need it: Adopted and attributed, never assessed here
- H
Any deadline: referral period, conclusivity, limitation
EssentialWithout it: A deadline can pass unnoticed, and the whole matter can be lost on time before the merits are ever reached.
Where to find it: The contract's dispute resolution clause for the referral period, and your solicitor for limitation.
Why I need it: These can end the matter before it starts
Copies are fine. Send what you have and I'll tell you what's missing. Download the client request PDF or editable Word version to pass to whoever holds the files.
Deadlines Established First
Any referral period, conclusivity provision or cut-off date is recorded with its clause before the analysis is used, so no exchange burns time you lack.
- A
You supply the records and the figures
The case runs on your quantities, rates and cost records; I argue what they are entitled to.
I rebuild the account as a case
Each head with its contractual basis, its evidence and its sum, structured to be decided, not just discussed.
Position Traced Before Issue
Every figure in a position traces to its analysis and every clause cited is verified against the executed contract before anything is sent.
I run the correspondence
The other side's objections answered point by point, on a timetable, with the formal notices that show the case is going somewhere.
You make the settlement calls
Everything goes in your name, and whether an offer is taken is always your decision.
Floor Set Before Talking
The negotiating strategy and your floor are settled and signed off before any figure or concession is put to the other side.
I make the account impossible to ignore
Free Service Pack
A step-by-step Handbook, with the templates and working documents you need to carry out the work it covers yourself. You supply your own project information and records.
Follow the Handbook's scope and stopping points, and obtain independent advice where required. The pack is not project-specific advice or independent sign-off.
