Placefirst: what the evidence showed when the claim was made

Subcontract — interim payment terms (restated from the judgment's description; not the wording of the JCT form) 1. The interim valuation date is the last calendar day of each month. Each interim payment becomes due 16 days after the interim valuation date. The final date for payment is 12 days after the due date. 2. A shall submit an interim payment application by no later than the 25th day of each month, stating the sum A considers to be due at the date when the relevant interim payment is calculated and the basis on which that sum is calculated. 3. B shall give a payment notice not later than five days after the due date. The notice shall specify the sum B considers to be or to have been due at the payment due date and the basis on which that sum is calculated. No particular format is required. 4. B shall pay the sum specified in its payment notice or, if no payment notice is given, the sum in A's interim payment application, by the final date for payment, unless B gives a pay less notice no later than two days before the final date for payment, in which case B shall pay the sum specified in the pay less notice. 5. A pay less notice shall specify the sum B considers to be due on the date the notice is served and the basis on which that sum is calculated. No particular format is required. Where the sum payable is determined by A's application, a pay less notice may not be given before that application. 6. It is immaterial that the sum specified in any notice may be zero.

1. A emailed its interim payment application number 30 to B on 24 July 2024. 2. On 31 July 2024 B sent A one email with two attachments. The subject line was "Payless Notice and Valuation 30". The attachments were a PDF named "Valuation 30 - Payless Notice.pdf" and an Excel workbook named "Valuation 30.xlsm". 3. The body of the email referred to A's application of 24 July 2024, said the attachments were B's pay less notice and its Valuation 30, and stated that, taking account of delays to the subcontract works, the balance due was minus £22,812.15. 4. The PDF was a letter from B dated 31 July 2024. It referred to A's application of 24 July 2024 and said it was given as a pay less notice under paragraph 10 of Part II of the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 and section 111 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. It stated B's view that the gross amount due on the date of the notice was £2,769,275.56 (excluding retention and VAT), by reference to B's enclosed Valuation 30. 5. The letter then summarised how B calculated the gross amount and how it arrived at an amount due of minus £22,812.15, including a deduction of £141,501.43 for loss and expense. 6. The workbook's first worksheet, "summary", repeated the summary given in the letter. Its second worksheet was headed "subcontract payment certificate". That worksheet gave the invoice number as "Val 30" and the certificate number as "PF30", was dated 31 July 2024, and stated that payment was due no later than 28 August 2024. It set out a more detailed breakdown and ended with an amount now due, as an interim payment, of minus £22,812.15. 7. The worksheet had spaces for signature by B's quantity surveyor and by B's commercial manager or commercial director. In the electronic copy sent, neither space was signed.