Set-Off & Contra-Charge Defence
RemedialHourlyFor Subcontractors
I answer the deductions taken against you and show, line by line, which ones fail their own conditions.
The problem
Contra-charges arrive as a schedule of round numbers: attendances you never agreed, rectification you were never asked to do, delay damages with no delay analysis behind them. Left unanswered, they harden into the account as if agreed, and silence gets read as acceptance. But most deductions have conditions attached: a contractual basis, a notice the deduction needed, records that prove the cost was incurred and caused by you. A deduction that cannot meet its own conditions does not belong in the account, however confidently it was issued.
The solution
I take the schedule apart item by item: the contractual basis each deduction claims, the notice it required and whether it was given, the records that would prove it and whether they exist. Each gets a written answer: invalid and why, overstated and by how much on the records, or properly incurred and conceded. Where answering a delay-based deduction needs programme analysis, that comes from a planner; I run the contract machinery and the money. The response goes back as a schedule the other side has to engage with line by line, in your name, with the notice failures put first, because they are the quickest to verify and the hardest to argue with.
What you receive
The deductions stop being a number subtracted in silence. Every item is answered on its merits, the invalid ones named with the condition each fails, and nothing hardens in just because it went unchallenged. You get a detailed written report on every deduction: what it claims, what the contract requires, and the answer given.
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
The list below is what the item-by-item defence is built from.
- A
Every contra-charge claimed, with its build-up
EssentialWithout it: A charge with no build-up cannot be tested on its figures, only on the fact that it has none, which the defence then has to prove.
Where to find it: Attached to the pay less notice or the assessment email it arrived with.
Why I need it: A contra-charge has to be built up, not asserted
- B
The notices relied on, as served, with proof of service
EssentialWithout it: The notice point cannot be tested, and it is usually the fastest way to defeat a deduction.
Where to find it: The email that transmitted the notice, with its timestamp. Check the sent or received folder around the date the deduction says it was served.
Why I need it: Most set-offs fail on the notice before they fail on the merits
- C
The executed contract and every amendment
EssentialWithout it: The deduction cannot be tested against its own conditions, so an invalid set-off can pass unchallenged.
Where to find it: The commercial folder or the order email.
Why I need it: The set-off clause decides what can be deducted and how
- D
The records that rebut the charges
ImportantWithout it: Each charge stands unanswered on the facts, and the defence has nothing but assertion against assertion.
Where to find it: The site office files and the team's phones.
Why I need it: What actually happened, against what is claimed
- E
The valuation or account the deduction was taken from
EssentialWithout it: It cannot be shown exactly where the money left the account, so the deduction cannot be traced to a figure and challenged on it.
Where to find it: The valuation or the payment or pay less notice the deduction appears on, and the certificate it was actually taken out of.
Why I need it: Where the money actually came off
- F
Every previous valuation for the same heads
ImportantWithout it: A charge levied twice for the same thing goes unnoticed, because only the current valuation is checked.
Where to find it: The run of earlier valuations and certificates for the account, back to the first one.
Why I need it: Where duplication hides
- G
Any period of delay relied on, and who assessed it
ImportantWithout it: A time dependent charge is carried with no period behind it, unattributed to whoever actually assessed it.
Where to find it: The delay analysis or programmer's report the charge is said to depend on.
Why I need it: Adopted and attributed, never assessed here
- H
Any period for responding to the notice under which the set-off was made
EssentialWithout it: The response window can run out before the defence is even built, and the right to challenge the deduction can be lost on time alone.
Where to find it: The contract clause the pay less notice was issued under, or the notice itself, which usually states the period.
Why I need it: This is often short and it is checked on day one
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.
Contract Terms Confirmed First
Every permitted ground of deduction and its notice rules are taken clause by clause from the executed contract before any charge is tested, never from memory.
- A
You tell me what actually happened
One call on each significant item: what was done, what was agreed, and what the site records show.
I test every deduction against its own conditions
The contractual basis, the notice it needed, and the records it would take to prove it.
I answer the schedule line by line
Each item met in writing: invalid, overstated or conceded, with the reasoning the other side has to engage with.
Response Traced and In Time
Every figure traces to the tested schedule and the response is completed inside the contractual period for answering the notice, so no deadline is lost.
You issue the response in your name
The answered schedule goes back from you, and you decide what is pressed and what is conceded.
I diarise where the charges could return
Charges withdrawn but not yet credited, charges likely to reappear at the next valuation and the retention position each get a date in your diary as well as mine, so nothing hardens in later because nobody was watching.
I hand over every deduction answered on its merits
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.
