How to challenge a Pay Less Notice

Test whether it is a valid notice first, then fight the figure. A Pay Less Notice only works if it passes four tests: sent by the payer or a person the contract names to give notices for the payer, served no later than the prescribed period before the Final Date For Payment, the last day the money can lawfully arrive, stating the sum due as at the day of service with workings shown, and served by the method the contract requires. Fail any one and it is no notice, so the full Notified Sum, the amount that legally must be paid, is due, and that can go to adjudication, the fast 28 day dispute process, on the notice point alone. If the notice survives, you can still challenge the valuation itself, including every deduction, in adjudication, where the outcome turns on contemporaneous records kept line by line. Keep applying on time while the challenge runs, and take advice on the timing before you commit.

A demolition subcontractor applies for £85,000 and receives a Pay Less Notice cutting it to £60,000. Before arguing about the work, it checks the four tests and finds the notice arrived just three days before the Final Date For Payment when the contract required seven. That failure alone means it is no notice, so the full £85,000 is due and the subcontractor could take that point to adjudication and win on the paperwork. Had the notice been perfectly timed and served, the subcontractor could still challenge the £25,000 of deductions on their merits in adjudication, where its dated site photos and measurement records would carry the day. Either way it keeps applying on time each month.