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exercised a lien or issued notice of reservation of ownership.
The provisions of clause 38.5.5 and 38.5.7 should assist with
the resolution of such issues.
Clause 38.5.2
On relinquishing possession of the n/s works the subcontractor
shall remove from the site his temporary buildings, plant and
machinery without delay.
The subcontractor must remove temporary buildings,
plant and machinery [38.5.2] – this may involve removal of
any temporary walls in basements or on lower levels where
allowed by the contractor prior to termination but in certain
cases the subcontractor may want to leave them in place
with the written permission of the employer because of the
probability of further involvement. They may equally be in the
employer’s interests to retain them, with the subcontractor’s
permission, if it wishes to employ another subcontractor to
complete the works.
The subcontractor may need to make security
arrangements and/or leave some of its staff on site to
protect its interests, but the employer will also probably
appoint security personnel to secure the site, even before
the contractor has departed, to secure its investment.
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RACA Journal I January 2020
Unless agreed to the contrary, security arrangements the
employer makes on site are to protect its own interests and
the subcontractor remains responsible for its plant, works and
materials until removed from site or properly delivered to the
employer.
Clause 38.5.3
The principal agent shall forthwith compile a report on
the status of the portion of the n/s works executed by the
subcontractor and shall issue such report to the employer,
contractor and subcontractor.
The principal agent must immediately compile and issue a
status report on the progress of the works for the contractor
[PBA 36.5.2] and for the subcontractor [NSSA 38.5.3]. This
report must be handed to the employer, contractor and
subcontractor. It is suggested that the subcontractor has a very
keen interest in this status report and should preferably have
one available and issue it to the principal agent and demand
that he sign it off and issue it as his own instead of allowing the
latter to do it as it may not contain all the facts and details the
subcontractor is able to provide and would like it to record.
This status report must be very detailed as it may serve as
evidence for:
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