QScope

Written for the people who value the work

Payment, valuation, variations, retention and the final account. 174 pieces, no sign-up, and no piece that ends in a sales pitch.

Latest

Time & completion06/04/2026
What does time at large actually mean, and will it save me?

When the client causes delay and the contract has no working way to extend the date, the fixed completion date can fall away entirely: time is at large, and you owe completion in a reasonable time instead. It kills the delay damages, it is real law, and it almost never works.

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Valuations02/04/2026
Remeasurement and approximate quantities

Where quantities are approximate, the work is measured as executed and valued at the bill rates. The trap is the rate that stops being reasonable.

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Construction Act01/04/2026
The architect will not certify my valuation. What can I do?

A certificate that never comes does not stop the payment machinery. The dates run from the due date, silence hands you the notice under section 110B, and the sum can become payable without anyone signing a certificate.

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Subcontractors31/03/2026
Project bank accounts and fair payment

Money in a ring-fenced account, released to everyone on the same date. It protects the supply chain and constrains the main contractor.

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Time & completion30/03/2026
Is the programme a contract document

Under JCT it usually is not, and that surprises both sides. Under NEC the Accepted Programme is central to how everything is assessed.

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Reports27/03/2026
A cash flow forecast for a small building job, without a spreadsheet degree

Take the valuation schedule, shift every receipt to the date the money actually lands, put the outgoings on the dates they actually leave, and read the lowest point. That number is how much of your own money the job needs, and it is knowable before you sign.

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Valuations26/03/2026
Off-site materials and the conditions that come with them

Paying for materials before they reach site is possible under JCT, but only where they are listed and a set of conditions is met. Each one exists for a reason.

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Valuations25/03/2026
Material prices went up mid-contract. Who pays the difference?

On a fixed price with no fluctuations clause: you do, and no amount of unfairness changes it. What a fluctuations provision would have done, the narrow escapes worth checking before you concede, and how to price the next job in a rising market.

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Final account24/03/2026
Surviving an audit of the final account

An auditor is not looking for fraud. They are looking for figures that cannot be traced to a document, and every account has some.

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