The Email That Turns Silence Into Money

Episode 162 of The Subcontractors Blueprint sees Jacob Austin deal with verbal instructions, and what to do when you are told to move something on site and nothing ever arrives in writing. Standard form subcontracts require instructions in writing, but they also provide a route when one is given face to face. You confirm it yourself, and if the contractor does not dissent within the stated period, it takes effect as an instruction anyway. Jacob covers who actually has the authority to instruct you, the six ways subcontractors lose that protection, and the four minute email that turns a site conversation into a valuation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Why the contractor's silence, rather than his signature, is what makes a verbal instruction stick.

Who on site can actually instruct you, and why the engineer who designed the change cannot.

What to put in the email so it is still worth something nine months later.

Why confirming work that was always in your scope gets you nothing at all.

Why a contractor who does dissent has done you a favour.

The six ways a confirmation fails, starting with sending it to the wrong person.

BEST BITS

"Nobody's memory is any good nine months later, including yours."

"You need to be specific, almost to the point of being boring about it."

"You're not building a case against a site manager that you like."