ABSTRACT
The majority of Contractors state that a Payless Notice can be issued only one day prior to the Final Date for payment. Clearly, this is totally inadequate and could have appalling effects on a person's cash flow. Some Contractors are imposing the power to set off 'future costs' which are 'likely to be suffered or incurred', based merely on their own estimates. This can easily be abused, and trumped up costs made to look genuine. Despite the 2011 amendments to the Construction Act, and the expressions of 'fair treatment' and 'strong long-term relationships with the suppliers', that one finds on all the big Contractor's web sites, the fact of the matter is that the 'loopholes' in the Act have been and continue to be exploited by many Contractors. These same Contractors evade and abuse the spirit, and often the letter, of the Act.
