What the contract actually means

Contract terms explained

Time bar

Miss the deadline and the claim is gone. Not weakened, gone. Being right doesn't bring it back.

Entire agreement clause

Your quote, your emails and everything you agreed on site no longer count. Only what's in the contract counts.

Payment schedule

The builder's written answer to your claim. If it doesn't arrive in time, you may be entitled to the lot.

Recourse to security

They can take your retention or call your bank guarantee without asking you first.

Set-off

They can deduct what they say you owe them from what they owe you, before anyone's agreed it.

Latent condition

Something in the ground nobody could reasonably have known about. Usually claimable, but only if you notice it in writing, fast.

Extension of time

More time on the clock. Without it, you're wearing liquidated damages for a delay that wasn't yours.

Liquidated damages

A daily fine for being late, agreed in advance. They don't have to prove they lost anything.

Practical completion

The day the clock stops, retention starts coming back and the defects period starts. Worth arguing about.

Notice of delay

Telling them the job's been held up, in writing, in time. Skip it and the delay becomes your fault.

General information only — not advice on your particular contract. Every contract is different, which is the point.