Liquidated Damages Deduction Review

ForensicFixed FeeFor Subcontractors, Main Contractors & Clients5 working days

I check a liquidated damages deduction against the machinery that authorises it and tell you what the documents and the arithmetic actually support.

The problem

Liquidated damages arrive with the confidence of arithmetic: rate times weeks, subtracted. But the deduction only stands if the machinery behind it does: the rate as the contract states it, the period counted correctly from the right date, the rate proportioned down where part of the works was taken over, and the certificates and notices the deduction depends on, issued in the right order at the right times. Deductions fail on their own machinery more often than either side expects, and nobody checks until the money has already moved.

The solution

I establish the machinery first, clause by clause from the executed contract: the rate, the counting rule, the preconditions and the notice windows. Only then is the deduction re-performed against it, document by document: the period arithmetic, the proportioning where partial possession was taken, and the certificates and notices in place, in order, on time. The findings are stated as facts, what each document says and what the arithmetic supports, for the party suffering the deduction or the party making it. Whether the completion date should have been extended is never assessed here, and whether the rate is enforceable is a legal question for a solicitor; the review states what the machinery and the arithmetic support.

What you receive

The deduction stops being an assertion with arithmetic attached. You know what the rate, the period, the proportioning and the certificates actually support, stated document by document as findings of fact, whichever side of the deduction you are on. What you do with them, through the payment cycle, the account or your solicitor, starts from established ground.

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: five working days.

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

Step 01
Step 01
You send me the paperwork
The four items below are the whole review; it is bounded on purpose.
A
Contract and particulars
Essential
Without it: Nothing can be tested
Where to find it: The commercial folder or the order email.
Why I need it: The rate, the machinery, the preconditions
B
Extension decisions
Essential
Without it: The period is wrong
Where to find it: The contract administrator's award letters, filed with the certificates and the formal correspondence.
Why I need it: Fix the completion date as it stands
Quality: the award letters with revised completion dates stated.
C
Completion certificates
Essential
Without it: Two of the main failure modes untestable
Where to find it: The contract administrator's issues and the formal correspondence file.
Why I need it: Preconditions and proportioning triggers
D
Deduction papers
Essential
Without it: The payment-machinery test fails silently
Where to find it: The payment paperwork for the period the deduction landed in.
Why I need it: Timing and content of the notices
E
Their computation
Important
Without it: You are checking a guess at their arithmetic
Where to find it: Attached to the pay less notice or assessment as it was served, if the other side set out a calculation.
Why I need it: What exactly is being checked
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.
I establish the machinery first
The rate, the counting rule, the preconditions, the notice windows and the proportioning formula are taken clause by clause from the executed contract, amendments read first, before any test is run. Nothing is checked against a standard form or a memory of one.
Machinery Confirmed First
The rate, counting rule, preconditions and notice windows are taken clause by clause from the executed contract before any test is run, never from memory.
I re-perform the arithmetic
With the machinery established, I check the certificates and notices against it, document by document, then re-run the sum: the stated rate, over the period the recorded dates support, proportioned where possession was partial.
I state the findings
Document by document, as findings of fact: what supports the deduction and what does not.
Findings of Fact Only
Every figure reproduces from the contract terms and the dates, and each finding is stated as fact with its legal consequence left to your advisers.
You act on the findings
Press for repayment, adjust the deduction, or stand on it, with the facts established either way.

I hand over findings of fact on the deduction

See the full outcome in What you receive.

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.