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BUSINESS AND TRAINING
The Occupation Certificate ( OC ) is issued by the Local Authority ( LA ) on application by the Employer subject to submission of Compliance Certificates for applicable services and inspections by LA inspectors .
As a subcontractor you can enforce a lien to cover the use of your works if you have not been paid and followed the notice procedures to rectify the issue by withholding ‘ your CC ’ until paid .
Practical Completion
• The issue of the Certificate of Practical Completion is a record that the Contractor has completed obligations under the Contract . The project is safe and usable by the Employer .
• The insurance risk passes from the Contractor ’ s ‘ all risk ’ policy to the Employer ’ s ‘ asset insurance policy ’.
• The ‘ available benefits ’ under the guarantee for construction reduce / fall away depending on the guarantee chosen .
• The Employer can only use the building on receipt of the Occupation Certificate from the Local Authority , a statutory obligation .
• The Principal Agent cannot withhold the issue of the Certificate of Practical Completion because the Occupation Certificate has not been issued .
Maintenance Manual If applicable , as-built drawings , product warranties and operating instructions must be submitted by the subcontractor to the contractor to submit to the Principal Agent who , with other agents , must compile the Project Maintenance Manual for submission to the Employer at or soon after Practical Completion .
Final Account It is generally advantageous to resolve the ‘ final account ’ of each trade as it is completed , or of identifiable component of a trade whilst work on site is accessible and / or tradesmen involved can be interviewed so that resolution of the final account after PC is easy . Depending on the arrangements made on award of the Contract – the provision of a Guarantee for Construction or the withholding of Retention -the guaranteed amount must be adjusted as the work progresses or 50 % of the Retention money must be repaid ( certified for payment ) in the Payment Certificate ( Payment Advice to the Subcontractor ) after PC – and the remainder to be paid as part of the Final Payment Certificate
Disputes
• ‘ Technical ’ disputes may arise during inspections before the issue of interim completion certificates about workmanship and / or compliance with specified quality criteria or the commissioning of plant .
• Other disputes may arise during the preparation of the final account – typically where deviations to the scope in the tender have occurred – where no contract rates apply and / or where preliminaries charges are difficult to quantify .
• It is imperative that the Parties cooperate to resolve such issues speedily and amicably .
• Resolution of disputes is inevitably stressful and time consuming . It is important to file all potentially relevant information in a place and under headings where it can easily be retrieved . The more information the better – whilst one tries not to swamp the other party with minutiae , the lack of information can delay and hinder the resolution of items in dispute .
• If the Parties cannot agree – you may want to involve a Mediator whose task it is , is to find common ground – that both parties need to compromise . The Parties can do that anyway ! PA
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline March 2022 Volume 28 I Number 1