When is the Employer's QS allowed to change his or her mind ?

Question

Under a traditional JCT Standard Form Building Contract can the Employer's Quantity Surveyor revise or update a previously agreed valuation assessment of a variation?
If assessment of a variation claim has been made and agreed between QS and Contractor during the course of the carrying out the work, is the QS empowered to change that assessment when calculating the Final Payment Certificate? Does it make any difference if previously agreed assessments are later found to contain clear and obvious errors or duplications with other areas of the account calculations?

Tom Spilsted · Answer

Steve this has always been a tricky one to answer even before the Construction Act. I believe that if an item is paid on an interim basis pending further details or consideration and it is then changed when that information is provided, it seems to me that can be viewed as reasonable. However I have experienced a number of adjudications where this was decided to be unreasonable and deemed to be acceptance of an item as a variation, hence why many Empoyer's team won't verify on account I presume.
Where I have always had an issue is when an item is agreed and the Employer's team change opinion (often because of pressure from th Employer?).
The lesson from this is to document any agreement to be able to evidence it.

When is the Employer's QS allowed to change his or her mind ?

Final-Accounts

variation

change

Steve Hardy

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