Two members of the House of Lords have agreed to take up amendments to the Construction Bill that were dropped in the wake of the scandal over cash for influence

Lord Borrie and Baroness Hamwee have agreed to put forward proposals from the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group, including a proposal that would require payees to provide “adequate security” to their suppliers.

This could force contractors to prove they have adequate funds to pay subcontractors or risk them walking off site.

They may also be required to provide a payment bond or open a project bank account.

Rudi Klein, SEC Group chief executive, has spent the past two weeks meeting with members of the Lords to convince them to support the group’s proposed revisions.

The Construction Bill is in its committee stage at the House of Lords. It will bring in reforms to the 1996 Construction Act, which introduced statutory adjudication and payment rules.

Postscript

For more on payment protection and the background to this story, go to www.building.co.uk/archive