We are three months into the job, the scope has changed twice, and nobody has signed anything since the letter of intent.
Construction disputes are almost always about what was agreed and when. We own the contract layer — the appointment, the subcontracts, the variations and the payment notices — so the record exists while the job runs rather than being reconstructed afterwards.
Dinmore Bell acts as the outsourced General Counsel for construction businesses: main contracts and subcontracts, letters of intent, variations, payment and pay-less notices, retention recovery and the disputes that follow. It is a retained function on a fixed monthly fee.
How we own it
Off the letter of intent, onto a contract
Work that starts under a letter of intent and never moves onto the real contract is the most common expensive mistake in the sector. We close that gap, and where work has already started we establish what actually governs it.
Variations recorded as they happen
A change instructed on site and confirmed in a meeting is worth very little six months later. We put a process around instructions and confirmations that takes minutes on the day and settles the argument at final account.
Payment notices, and the money they protect
Payment and pay-less notices are unforgiving about timing, and missing one can be decisive regardless of the merits. We hold the timetable, draft the notices, and pursue retention rather than writing it off.
Where specialists come in
Adjudication, arbitration and litigation are conducted by regulated specialists — solicitors, counsel and where appropriate claims consultants — whom we instruct, brief and coordinate. Health and safety enforcement, CDM prosecutions and building safety regulatory matters are handled by appropriately qualified specialists. Quantum and delay analysis is prepared by instructed experts. We hold the budget and remain accountable for the commercial outcome.
Services we run here
- Do you run adjudications?
- We run the commercial position, the documents and the strategy, and we instruct and coordinate the specialists who conduct the adjudication itself. The preparation is where most adjudications are decided, and that is our work.
- Can you review a contract before we price a job?
- Yes, and that is the cheapest point at which to do it. Amendments to a standard form, unusual payment terms and uncapped liabilities all change what the job is worth.