Not only does this case have oodles of common sense bursting out of its seams, it also is about the real end, the everyday end, of our building industry. It is about builders, small builders with a handful (at most) of staff. They buy wheelbarrows and shovels. It is not about contractors. You know the difference, of course?

In ordinary builders’ territory it is ever so usual to issue an interim account in broad-brush round terms. In the case of 1st Formations Ltd vs Lapp Industries Ltd [2025], the builder (Lapp) began work to carry out a lump of demolition here and there, and some enabling works. It grew like topsy. Lapp’s employer, 1st Formations, did a sort of “while you are here” addition – and then a bit more, and a bit more… You get the idea. 

So it is not surprising that Lapp then chucked in an “on-account” interim application for £100,000 plus VAT. That’s what happens time and again with ordinary builders. The employer payer will “look and sniff” the application and invariably pay up – or, if it’s a tad too sniffy, will pay most of it on account. The snag is that this time the payer went too far. It paid nothing at all. 

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