We are working under NEC 4 Option A. The PM has notified us that some of the works within our scope will be carried out by another contractor and some have already been completed. Do we have anywhere to go with this? We have not carried out any work yet so this is not because of poor performance. Our original scope/value could now be a lot lower as the client only wants to pay us for what we actually do now rather than what is in the Activity Schedule.
The very simple answer to this (save for extraordinary conditions or very specific contract wording beyond the standard form) is no. The removal of work to give to another will be a repudiatory breach of contract. There is quite a bit of case law on this, see for example Scheldebouw -v- St James where there was a term that said work could be omitted and given to someone else but even that was not specific enough in the circumstances.