Cases - Strathmore Building Services v Colin Scott Greig
Record details
- Name
- Strathmore Building Services v Colin Scott Greig
- Date
- [2000]
- Citation
- ScotCS 133
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Pre-LDEDCA: Withholding notices -counterclaims set off against outstanding interim payments - notice in writing - contract administration
- Summary
-
The construction contract provided that interim payments were to be in the amount stated in the contractor's monthly application unless a withholding notice was issued within 14 days of the application. The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 applied to the contract.
The parties fell into a dispute regarding the sums properly due and the employer wrote a letter to the contractor setting out details of various counterclaims which they intended to set off against outstanding interim payments. After this letter had been sent, the contractor issued a monthly application for payment. The employer did not respond to the application in writing. However, the employer telephoned the contractor's offices and left a message to the effect that parties were already in dispute and made specific reference to the earlier letter.
The court held that the employer had not complied with the requirements of section 11 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and so had to pay the full amount of the application. The letter could not be relied on as a withholding notice because it had been issued before the application. The telephone message could not be relied on as a withholding notice under section 11 because that section requires the notice to be in writing.