This is the first time that the HGCRA has reached the House of Lords. The dispute here, which related to the payment part of that legislation, highlighted the tension between an employer鈥檚 payment obligations and the impact on those obligations of the contractor going into administration. Here, on 2 May 2003, Melville applied for an interim payment. No withholding notice was served. The final date for payment was 16 May 2003. Wimpey did not pay, but on 22 May 2003 administrative receivers were appointed.

Clause 27.6.5.1 of the contract, the Scottish 好色先生TV Contract, with Contractor's Design, as is typical, stated that in these circumstances the parties must wait until the works are finished. Then an account will be taken and any balance paid to the receiver. The Scottish CA and the minority of the House of Lords were of the view that at the time the receivership was announced, the payment was due as no notice of withholding had been served. If the final date for payment has passed, then the notice requirements of section 111 cannot be applicable as they have to be implemented before the final date for payment. Therefore the monies ought to be handed over to the receivers.

And this of course represents the tension described above. When a contractor's employment has been determined and a receiver appointed, two consequences follow. The contractor no longer has any duties to perform and the liability to make interim payment is no longer provisional. While the employer retains the money, he can set it off against his cross claim for non-completion against the contractor. More often than not, that cross claim will exceed any claim the contractor may have for unpaid work. Once the employer has paid the money, it will be gone, swept up by, for example, floating charges. If Wimpey paid the money over, it would never see it again.

In the House of Lords there was limited discussion about the payment provisions of the HGCRA. Lord Hoffman noted that the object of these clauses was to introduce clarity and certainty as to the terms for payment and to dictate to the construction industry what those terms should be. He did not feel that section 110 necessarily achieved this, in particular with regard to the notice provisions. He agreed with other commentators that serving a notice under section 110(2) seemed to have no consequences. There was no penalty for doing so. He described its purpose as being "something of a puzzle" and noted that it seemed "to have dropped from heaven into the legislative process on its last day in the House of Commons鈥".

However, the crux of the issue was section 111. Was Wimpey entitled to withhold the interim payment when it did not serve a notice before the final date for payment on 16 May 2003? It would not have been possible for Wimpey to serve such a notice by 11 May 2003. The earliest that they could have known they were entitled to withhold the interim payment was when the receivers were appointed on 22 May 2003.