Delay and payment support for a battery energy storage project

We supported a transformer specialist facing a disputed final milestone payment on a battery energy storage project. The approximately £7.7 million subcontract carried potential delay damages approaching £1 million, while more than £700,000 remained withheld. We reconstructed the time position, clarified the completion and payment obligations and prepared the correspondence needed to progress the account. The client subsequently negotiated a final settlement and secured release of the outstanding payment.

Background

The subcontract required delivery of two transformers, followed by installation and commissioning and the submission of key documents. Each stage had its own date, while payment was governed by a milestone schedule. Delays had accumulated through procurement, site readiness, replacement components, testing and additional document requests.

The dispute therefore involved several connected questions: which events affected each key date, when the physical work had been completed, what documents the contract required, and whether the stated grounds for withholding payment matched the milestone being assessed.

Our approach

We began with the subcontract and its amendments, extracting the provisions governing completion, extensions of time, delay damages and payment. We compared the main wording with the schedules and key dates so that the correspondence addressed the agreement as a whole.

The delay work was organised into separate event notices and a cumulative reconciliation of all three key dates. This showed how an event affecting delivery could move the later installation and documentation dates, while an event occurring after delivery might affect only the remaining stages.

The supporting narratives traced the event, the contractual provision relied on and the resulting programme impact. One concerned the delayed release of the order; another concerned an instruction to store the units until the installation base was ready. The latter was assessed as a further delay of approximately two and a half months.

Later events required a different analysis. Replacement components had a substantial lead time, testing depended on the site conditions needed to undertake it, and additional document requests arose near completion. We set these matters out individually rather than rely on a single explanation for the overall overrun.

The payment work distinguished completion of installation and commissioning from the separate obligation to submit documents. We examined the payment notices, the amount certified and the grounds advanced for withholding the balance. The draft responses required any further document demand to be identified against a specific contractual requirement, so that outstanding obligations could be addressed precisely.

We also developed the client’s position on the timing of payment notices and the final date for payment. The correspondence set out the arguments for certification and payment, while allowing a practical route for resolving the remaining issues.

As commercial discussions progressed, we prepared draft final account wording to record the client’s understanding of the proposed agreement, the balance and the treatment of remaining claims. This brought the time, payment and close-out work into a single commercial process.

Outcome

The client negotiated a final settlement and secured release of the outstanding payment. The reconciled time position, event-specific narratives and payment correspondence gave it a substantiated basis for resolving the account.

Our work enabled the client to address the disputed milestones with reference to the contract and the project record. By separating the effects of individual delay events from the remaining documentation requirements, we helped the client explain its entitlement and bring the commercial discussions to a conclusion.