Assisting our client in terminating its contract, reprocuring the works and pursuing its claims

We acted for a developer client who had experienced serious and ongoing issues with its contractor over a sustained period. Attempts to resolve matters amicably, including by way of making early payments and agreeing to certain price revisions, had ultimately failed to get the project fully back on track, and it was clear that the contractor was unlikely to be able to complete the works either within a reasonable period of time or at all, even if further demands for additional monies were agreed to.

Upon instruction, we reviewed the history of the matter and assisted the client in ensuring that correspondence would serve as a useful “paper trail” in the event that one final opportunity to resolve matters was not accepted by the contractor. This advice had regard to the ambiguities in the contractual arrangements, with potential disputes as to whether certain terms had been incorporated into the contract, or were capable of being implemented as intended, even if they applied.

Following that correspondence, we advised the client fully as to their options in respect of terminating the contract, and prepared a termination notice, fully reserving the client’s position in relation to claiming its losses arising from the need to terminate, and so as to minimise the chances of being required to pay any further sums to the contractor.

In tandem with this, we also advised the client as to how best to procure the replacement contractor, so as to maximise the prospects of recovering the increased costs of completing the project from the original contractor.