unpaid invoice + further request for work

[Wobble]

I will try and keep this as brief as possible .

Late last year my business was contacted by company (A) to survey work on a large build project , the building company recommended us to company (A) due to us completing work for them in the past, a quote was accepted and the work was completed .

An invoice has been raised for this work to company (A) and still remains outstanding.

We are now in communication with the owners of the building as it has now handed over and they have requested more work , this involves taking out materials already put in by us in the 1st job and upgrading it to a higher spec ( we did recommend this at the original site meeting).

The original unpaid invoice is overdue and we are unable to make contact with company (A) via email or phone which worries me somewhat .

The new owners wish us to start work in the coming weeks .

My concern is if company (A) does not pay and i am forced to seek action against them ,will me carrying out work for the owners potentially cause me a problem in chasing company (A) in the future .

The invoices are obviously to 2 different companies . The jobs are 2 separate jobs , but does involve me removing 30% of materials from the 1st job that has not paid yet and the materials will be pretty worthless as they are specifically for this site.

 

[Michael Gerard]

[FONT=&quot]Although your 2 jobs are not only on the same building but are actually covering the same work, you have separate agreements with different parties which means that there are 2 contracts that are in law, completely independent from each other.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When you enter into a contract with a party, there is a common law [/FONT]doctrine which prevents a person who is not a party to a contract from enforcing a term of that contract. This is called privity of contract and applies even where the contract was made for the purpose of conferring a benefit on a third party [notwithstanding in specified circumstances the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 that reformed the privity of contract rule].

Providing you have carried out your work for company ‘A’ to the requisite standard under that contract (i.e. the materials you installed met the contract specification), then company ‘A’ will have no defence should it attempt to make any reference to the same materials now being removed under the separate contract with the owner.

You have not said what the value of your invoice is, but I suggest that you consider issuing a statutory demand or apply for summary judgement (Part 24 of the Civil Procedure Rules). Alternatively, you may wish to consider statutory adjudication if your work comes under the [new] Construction Act.

In the meantime, I wish you luck in carrying out the work for the owner.

 

[Wobble]

Thank you for taking the time to respond .

For reference the original invoice is for £8500. with a similar priced invoice will be raised for the new owners .

All specifications where clearly agreed on via email before work took place.