ABSTRACT
The employer seeks to control the selection of the sub-contractor; the less is a main contractor going to accept liability for the acts or defaults of the employer's nominee. If the goods which the sub-contractor supplies or the work he carries out prove defective, then the employer's remedy is against the main contractor. The employer has no authority to prevent the main contractor/supplier from sub-contracting parts of the contract work, unless the contractor has been selected and the contract placed on the basis, either express or implied, that the work is to be performed by the contractor himself. Normally the contract between the employer and the main contractor does not create any contractual rights or obligations as between the employer and the sub-contractor. With that background the contractual responsibilities of the main contractor for his sub-contractors may be considered under two broad headings: liability of sub-contractors for defects; and time.
