HVCA pushes for Construction Act amendment to protect subbies

The HVCA is petitioning hard for an amendment to be included in the Construction Act which would force main contractors to prove they had sufficient funds to pay suppliers when signing any contract.

"The context is that there is a lot of bad debt around, and a lot of companies going out of business, and the government wants to stop that from happening because it means more unemployment," said Rod Pettigrew, deputy chief executive of the HVCA. "There is a feeling that the payment process needs to be improved, so the timing may be right for this."

"There are several ways it could be brought into effect, one of which could be to ensure it was written into the contract."

Immediate past president of the HVCA John Millar said: "The number of companies going into administration is big worry and it is a particular concern for the supply chain who are entirely dependent on their revenues from another company."

Pettigrew said he expected the Construction Act to progress through the Lords by the end of February, and through the Commons by late Spring. "We expect the government to bring this forward fairly quickly," he added.