header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Withholding tactics

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
08 May 2008 / Alexander Hickey , Elspeth Owens
Issue: 7320 / Categories: Features , Local government , Property , Housing
printer mail-detail

Contractors need to beware of employers giving early withholding notices, say Alexander Hickey and Elspeth Owens

In Reinwood v Brown [2008] UKHL 12, [2008] All ER (D) 283 (Feb) the House of Lords has revisited withholding notices under s 111 and the payment regime of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA 1996) as incorporated in the Joint Contracts Tribunal Standard Form of Building Contract 1998 edition (JCT 1998). In Reinwood the law lords gave another ruling in favour of employers which may prove to be as controversial as last year's decision in Melville Dundas Ltd (in receivership) v George Wimpey UK Ltd and others [2007] UKHL 18, [2007] All ER (D) 226 (Apr). HGCRA 1996, s 111 provides:

  •   
    (1)     A party to a construction contract may not withhold payment after the final date for payment of a sum due under the contract unless he has given an effective notice of intention to withhold payment.
  •   
    (2)     To be effective
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Courts walk a tightrope on relocation & abuse
Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors examine recent international relocation cases where allegations of domestic abuse shaped outcomes
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll