How to Stop Work Without Breaching

Episode 161 of The Subcontractors Blueprint sees Jacob Austin explain how to stop work on site without breaching your own subcontract. When a main contractor is weeks late paying, walking off can feel like the only move left, yet it can turn a £100,000 debt into a six-figure liability. Jacob sets out the four routes: statutory suspension under section 112 of the Construction Act, contractual termination, accepting a repudiation, and simply leaving. He covers the seven day notice, what a proper suspension recovers in costs and time, and why late payment rarely amounts to repudiation. Follow the procedure and the pressure lands on the contractor, not you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Why a valid pay less notice removes your right to suspend, however unfair the figure feels.

How to suspend one work stream and keep your compound, fencing and pumps in place.

What a properly served suspension recovers for you: your costs and a later completion date.

Why a termination notice served out of sequence leaves you as the party in breach.

The pattern of late payment the courts have treated as repudiation, and why eight days late is not it.

Why pulling half your gang off and letting the job drift is a breach with none of the protection.

BEST BITS

"Being owed money, even a lot of money doesn't by itself entitle you to walk off a site."

"Picking the phone up and saying I'm pulling my lads off site is not a notice."

"If your position is good, the paperwork makes your case unanswerable."