Why Quantum meruit claims are controversial in the industry?
Quantum meruit meaning?
“Quantum meruit” is a Latin phrase that means “as much as he has deserved.” A reasonable remuneration or compensation deserves work done by a person or organization based on a retroactive agreement called quantum meruit.
Quantum meruit claims in the Construction industry
What are these quantum meruit claims? When a contractor has executed a work without agreeing on reasonable cost or has completed partial work (which he agreed cost for complete works), the contractor claims a fair value of payment for the executed works is called the quantum meruit claim. Not only the above reasons, but there may also be various reasons a contractor may claim quantum meruit claim. I.e.,
When Contractor may entitle to Quantum meruit claims?
- Work is carried out based on a letter of intent which price is not agreed or mentioned.
- The client agrees to pay a reasonable amount, but the exact amount or unit rate is not decided initially.
- Variations or extra works carried out but fell outside the scope of works agreed initially by the client and contractor.
- Where executed works are failed to asses under the payment clause of the agreed contract.
- When completed, works are considerably different from what he has agreed/needed to do.
When the contractor claims the changed circumstances such as unpredictable ground conditions, they are preferred to use the quantum meruit claim to claim their expenses. But validating or getting approval for a quantum meruit claim is extremely difficult. Once raised, there will be so many ambiguities between the client and the contractor. The assessing process of the quantum meruit claim is not defined anywhere. To give you more insight into this, We can discuss the best case law regarding the quantum meruit claim: Serck control Ltd V Drake & Scull Engineering Ltd (2000).
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Originally published at https://quantitysurveyor.blog.
