Contract says the Project Manager has to make their own assessment taking into account any application the Contractor has submitted. But what if they don’t? Contractor can not put in an invoice if they do not know what has been assessed, and they cant assume theirs was deemed accepted if there has been no response - so what happens now?
The payment mechanism under any ‘construction contract’ is governed by the provisions of the ‘Construction Act’ (Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 as amended by the Local Democracy Economic Development and Construction Act 2009).
This requires a ‘payment notice’ to be given which specifies the sum considered to be due and the basis on which that sum has been calculated. The default ‘payment notice’ 5 days after the ‘due date’ becomes the ‘notified sum’ which must be paid by the payer (Employer / Client) by the final date for payment (subject to any notice to pay less than the notified sum).
Where an application for payment is given by the Contractor and the Project Manager (specified person) does not certify a payment, then the payment application would be the default ‘payment notice’ and become the ‘notified sum’ 5 days after the ‘due date’. This means that the payer (Employer / Client) would be obliged to pay this amount by the final date for payment, unless a valid pay less notice is given.