Omissions

Omissions are variations that remove work from the contract scope, valued as a deduction — and the source of the oldest argument in construction pricing: at what rate do you take work out?

The argument is asymmetric rates. A contractor prices keenly at tender to win; when the employer omits a package, the contractor wants the omission valued at its actual cost plus lost contribution, not the keen bill rate it never expected to stand alone. The forms mostly say bill rates; the case law says the omitted work\'s true value, loss of contribution included, can be recoverable in the right circumstances.

The nastier version is strategic omission — a package removed mid-contract and relet directly, leaving the contractor with prelims and head-office costs that no longer have work to carry them. Contracts can limit this; employers who do it casually should read the clause before the letter.

Related: variations · final account · preliminaries