Quantum Meruit & Letter of Intent Valuation
RemedialHourlyFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors
Where work was done without a concluded contract to price it, I measure what was done and value it properly, so the claim for payment stands on evidence rather than an invoice total.
The problem
Work outruns paper more often than anyone admits: a letter of intent capped and expired months back while the job carried on, a contract negotiated but never signed, instructions that covered half of what was actually built. When the relationship ends, the paying side discovers the gap and prices it at zero, or at whatever the last agreed number was. The work is there, in the building, but nothing in writing says what it is worth, and an invoice with no basis behind it is just a number to refuse.
The solution
I measure what was done from the site records and value it at rates built up from first principles, labour, plant, materials and overheads, cross-checked on a second basis so the figure holds from more than one direction, and reconciled against everything already paid. The result is a valuation that can be negotiated, adjudicated where a route exists, or handed to your solicitor as the money behind their argument. Which legal doctrine entitles you to be paid is your solicitor's question; what the work is worth is this one.
What you receive
The work stops being an unpriceable argument. You hold a full measure of what was done, valued at rates that show their build-up, cross-checked on a second basis and reconciled against every payment made, in a schedule with a written report behind it. Your solicitor argues the entitlement; the figure they argue for is already proven.
The Handover Pack accompanies the work with its dates and sources, likely outcomes and responses, scope boundaries and ready-to-send correspondence where needed.
Turnaround: the timetable is agreed in writing at scoping and then kept.
The working days start when the agreed scope and required inputs are available. Optional items do not hold the start unless the agreed scope says otherwise.
How it works
You send me the paperwork
Everything in the list below in one go.
- A
Instruction trail
EssentialWithout it: The valuation has no scope
Where to find it: The commercial folder and the negotiation thread.
Why I need it: Fixes the boundary of the unpriced ground
- B
Build records
EssentialWithout it: The measure is assertion
Where to find it: The site office files and the team's phones.
Why I need it: Prove what was done
- C
Cost records
ImportantWithout it: One-legged valuation
Where to find it: Your accounts system and purchase ledger.
Why I need it: The cross-check basis, and the primary basis where measurement fails
Quality: a job-costed ledger with invoices behind it.
- D
Payment history
EssentialWithout it: No deliverable
Where to find it: Your accounts package.
Why I need it: The balance cannot be struck without it
- E
Your own build-up: tender or budget
ImportantWithout it: Rates built on inputs you cannot own
Where to find it: The estimating file for the tender that was never concluded, and the standard build-up the estimator prices from.
Why I need it: Supplies the labour constants and the overheads and margin percentage the rate build-ups are made from, in your own figures rather than an outsider's assumption
Copies are fine. Send what you have and I'll tell you what's missing. Download the client request PDF or editable Word version to pass to whoever holds the files.
- A
You walk me through how the job ran past the paper
One call on what was agreed, what was built and where the writing stopped.
Boundary Fixed in Writing
The point where priced ground ends and unpriced work begins is fixed at a dated document and confirmed by you in writing before anything is valued.
I measure the work done
From the site records: a full measure of what was actually built, not what was invoiced.
I build the rates from first principles
Labour, plant, materials and overheads from your cost records, cross-checked on a second basis.
I reconcile and value
The measure valued, everything already paid credited, and the balance stated with its build-up open.
Valuation Traced, Basis Reserved
Every figure traces to the measure, a rate build-up or the payment reconciliation; what the arrangement was in law stays with your solicitor.
You take the valuation forward
To negotiation, adjudication where a route exists, or your solicitor with the money side already built.
I hand over the valuation with its build-up open
Free Service Pack
A step-by-step Handbook, with the templates and working documents you need to carry out the work it covers yourself. You supply your own project information and records.
Follow the Handbook's scope and stopping points, and obtain independent advice where required. The pack is not project-specific advice or independent sign-off.
My products used
Tips that raise your odds of success
Questions I get asked often
The next job does not have to start this way. Signed Contract Review is the service that stops work running on a letter of intent past the point of safety.