Can the builder delay charge be passed to your supplier?
Distinguish liability to a builder from a potential recovery claim against the late materials supplier.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
The same delay can involve different agreements
Your supplier delivers late and the builder charges you for delay. It is tempting to send the charge straight to the supplier and assume the problem has moved. Before doing that, have both agreements reviewed. What the builder can claim from you and what you can claim from the supplier are separate legal questions, even where the events are connected.
Imagine a roofing contractor whose ordered sheets arrive after the planned installation date. Collect the builder subcontract and the supplier order terms, including accepted changes. Identify the promised supply arrangements and the builder's stated basis for charging you. Do not assume the supplier agreed to the same programme risks you accepted on the construction project.
business.gov.au recommends clear contract descriptions of work, timing and how disputes will be handled. Ask your adviser to identify the obligations in these actual agreements. A requested delivery date may need to be distinguished from an accepted commitment. Keep the supplier's confirmations and qualifications rather than presenting your purchase order alone as the entire arrangement.
Record the builder's demand, any deduction made and your response. Keep proposed and actual additional costs distinct. In the roofing example, a disputed builder charge should not be described to the supplier as an agreed liability without explaining its status. Ask what evidence is needed to support any potential claim and how the two disputes should be coordinated.
Get advice before withholding the supplier's invoices or treating the builder charge as an automatic credit. Relevant terms, rights and notice requirements need assessment. Preserve records of reasonable steps considered to reduce disruption. Do not accept a settlement with one party without checking how it may affect the other dispute or the evidence needed for it.
Maintain the common delivery timeline while documenting each agreement, allegation and response separately. Have the appropriate adviser review the next communications promptly. The objective is to understand both relationships and any realistic recovery path, rather than assume that whoever delivered late must automatically reimburse every amount another party has demanded.
