BRAVE NEW WORLD OR CON TRICK ?

I sense an increasing gap between the brave new world of Latham as publicly portrayed , and real life events on site. One reads of a whole new approach , where “confrontation” is a thing of the past, and subbies are chosen on the basis of their proactive attitude. In this wonderful new world, the builder’s door is always open, and the subbie is welcomed like a dear friend whenever he calls with a problem. “Claims” are a thing of the past.

The real world is somewhat different. Consider “proactivity”, as practised by several major builders. Firstly, the job is let on the most onerous conditions, so bad as to be illegal when the Construction Bill comes into force. The subbie is told not to concern himself with such trivia, but concentrate on “being proactive”. Once on site, he finds the same old problems of late building and work faces , all symptoms of an overall delay in the project. If he raises these problems, he is accused of “getting contractual”, and reminded of other enquiries soon to be released for tender - but only to “proactive” subcontractors.

The subbie soon finds he is expected to jump from one workface to another , in an ad hoc way. Programmes are abandoned. Milestone dates are “written in stone”, and he is expected to flood the job with labour and work weekends. At this point, the traditional threatening phone call at top level will be received. Even threats of liquidated damages and set off.

All this proactivity tends to cost a subbie a great deal of money. An extension of time would be nice. Some reimbursement would be even better. However, our subbie is now referred to those onerous conditions. He must now prove that he has followed them in every particular, with timely notices and records. No matter that he was originally told to ignore them. Individual “cause and effect” must now be proven. He finds that the builder’s door is no longer open. Communications are now handled by the “Gestapo” (alias the builder’s QS department). And it may take a very long time.

So the moral is to be proactive, but to comply with the rules for notifying and recording delays and expense. If you don’t, you may end up a very unhappy subbie.

Keynote:

Be proactive - but don’t neglect your notices and records

John Russell

Construction Contracts & Training Consultant (Established 1984)

Cheshire CW4 7DP Tel : 07770 986444

Email : swsubbie@globalnet.co.uk Website: www.jrconsultant.co.uk