ABSTRACT
One of the most important duties of the contract administrator under Standard Building Contract (SBC16), and one to be carried out with care, is the issuing of certificates of payment. A contract administrator issued certificates on a contract for the construction of a dwelling house. The contractor’s employment was determined for proper reasons, following which the contractor went bankrupt. SBC16 includes an optional provision for advance payment to the main contractor. The due date for each interim payment is seven days from the ‘Interim Valuation Date’. The contract administrator should only certify after having carried out an inspection to a reasonably diligent standard. The advance payment indicated in the contract particulars is paid to the contractor before the first certificate of payment is due for issue, but only after the contractor has provided the bond required.
