Can a final account mechanism be implied?

The Construction Act states that the contract must provide an ‘adequate mechanism’ setting out what payments are due and when. A contract does not need to have a final account mechanism to be statute compliant, but some standard form contracts will contain one, and it is generally deemed advantageous.

It may be beneficial to the contractor to want to imply a final account mechanism if there isn’t one. This might be because the contractor has not adjusted or managed variations very well as they have gone along or because the employer is simply refusing to pay.

However, if a construction contract does not provide a final account process, a contractor cannot rely on a mechanism implied by the Scheme. This is particularly true if the contract does provide for valuations via an interim payment cycle which allows both parties to ensure accuracy and make adjustments for valid claims.