Settlement Negotiation Support
RemedialHourlyFor Subcontractors, Main Contractors & Clients
I run the negotiation for you: the positions, the correspondence, and knowing what your case is worth before you accept less.
The problem
Final account negotiations are decided by preparation, not volume. The side that knows what its case is worth item by item, what the other side's weaknesses are, and what it will do if the negotiation fails, controls the room, while the side that turns up with a total and a hope splits the difference. The most expensive mistakes happen at the end: a settlement accepted below the case's worth because nobody valued the alternative, or a good offer refused because the number had become personal. Both are avoidable with a valued position and a written strategy.
The solution
I value the case before anyone negotiates: each item's realistic range on your figures and records, the other side's likely attack on each, and what the account is worth if negotiation fails and the dispute runs. That valuation is the floor and ceiling the whole negotiation works to. Then I run the negotiation with you: the opening position, every response drafted in your name, concessions sequenced to buy movement rather than leak value, and a written record of where every item stands after each round. You make every commercial call; the analysis, drafting and discipline are mine.
What you receive
You negotiate from a valued position instead of a hopeful one: every offer judged against what the case is actually worth, every concession bought rather than leaked, and a settlement you can defend to yourself afterwards. The valuation comes as a detailed written report, so every call in the room traces back to evidence.
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 sets the floor and the ceiling; the valuation has to trace back to your own figures.
- A
The position claimed, with the build-up behind every head
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to defend across the table, and a challenged head has nothing behind it to fall back on.
Where to find it: Your QS's working file.
Why I need it: A position without a build-up cannot be defended in a room
- B
The acceptable range, or your view of it
ImportantWithout it: The floor gets decided across the table under pressure instead of in advance, and a concession is made that would not have been made with time to think.
Where to find it: Your own decision, thought through and written down before the first meeting, ideally signed off by whoever in your organisation actually decides.
Why I need it: The floor is set before the room, not in it
- C
The counterparty's stance, in writing
ImportantWithout it: Every trade is built on what they said on a call, which can be denied the moment it stops suiting them.
Where to find it: The negotiation thread between the two commercial teams.
Why I need it: What they have actually committed to
- D
The records behind each head
ImportantWithout it: That head is graded weak and treated as currency for trading, whether or not it is actually the weakest thing in the claim.
Where to find it: The QS's measures and the accounts system's cost exports.
Why I need it: What each position stands on
- E
The executed contract and every amendment
EssentialWithout it: Neither position can be tested against what the contract would actually give you, so the floor is a guess instead of an entitlement.
Where to find it: The commercial folder or the order email.
Why I need it: The rules both positions have to satisfy
- F
Everything already exchanged: offers, letters, meeting notes
ImportantWithout it: A concession already made gets forgotten, and is effectively paid for twice at the table.
Where to find it: The negotiation thread for the written exchanges, and your own notes for anything agreed or offered in a meeting or on a call.
Why I need it: The concessions already made, which count
- G
Any period of delay relied on, and who assessed it
ImportantWithout it: The prolongation head goes to the table with no period behind it, unattributed to whoever actually produced 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 limitation date, conclusivity provision or referral period
EssentialWithout it: A deadline can run out while the negotiation is still going, and the underlying right can be lost while both sides are still talking.
Where to find it: The contract's dispute resolution clause, and your solicitor for the limitation date.
Why I need it: Talking does not stop a clock unless the contract says so
- I
What matters to you other than the money
OptionalWithout it: A trade that would have suited you, on timing or the relationship rather than the figure, is never offered because nobody knew to look for it.
Where to find it: Your own view. Think about timing, certainty, the relationship, and whether closing retention or defects alongside this matters to you.
Why I need it: Certainty, timing, the relationship, a clean close
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.
- A
You set your parameters
What you need, what you would take, and what you cannot live with; the strategy is built around them.
Floor Agreed in Writing
Your opening, expected outcome and walk-away floor are set and agreed in writing before any meeting is attended, so nothing is decided in the room on the fly.
I value the case first
Each item's realistic range on your figures, and what the account is worth if the negotiation fails.
I draft every round
Positions and responses written calmly, each concession traded rather than given, each round recorded.
Every Offer Traced
Every figure in every round traces back to the valued position and the executed contract before it goes out, so no offer is a guess.
You stay the voice of the deal
Every position goes out in your name after you approve it, and the final decision on any offer is yours.
Every Head Closed
The settlement draft deals expressly with every head, including any conceded to nil and both retention halves, so nothing survives to be argued later.
I keep the exit visible
What happens if the negotiation fails, kept current throughout, so every offer is judged against the real alternative.
I hand over the valuation behind every call
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.
