How do I ask for a backcharge to be substantiated?
- In What came back, record their payment schedule against the claim it answers.
- Put their own reason against each line they cut. YourCA reads the reasons.
- Open Reconcile it.
- If their words name a charge back to you, Backcharges and set-offs in their reasons shows above the line table. It marks their word inside their own reason, so you can see exactly what matched.
- It reads the reasons against your lines, the reasons on the face of the schedule, and any line of theirs that answers no line of yours.
- Read the request YourCA drafted. It states the claim, their schedule and their reasons word for word.
- It then asks six questions: what the amount is for, when the cost was incurred, how the figure is made up, the documents behind it, the clause they rely on, and any notice they gave you first.
- Correct anything wrong.
- Open it in your own email, or download it.
- YourCA does not send it and does not hold the address of your builder. Put the address in and send it yourself.
Worth knowing
YourCA tells you what they wrote, not if they may charge it. That depends on the set-off clause of your subcontract and on any notice they had to give. YourCA reads neither. It also names only the charging words. So it does not flag liquidated damages, a withholding for defects or a quantity dispute, although you can ask about each of those deductions. And a request pauses nothing. Where this claim stands, above the same section, counts the window their schedule started, and names the section of your state Act it comes from.