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Withholding notice meaning

What does Withholding notice mean?
In construction practice, a withholding notice is a notice from the payer (often the employer) to a contractor or subcontractor stating the sum to be withheld from a payment application or certificate and the reasons (e.g. set‑off, defects or contra‑charges). In England & Wales and Scotland, the statutory mechanism is now the pay less notice under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, as amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009; “withholding notice” is legacy terminology but is still used in some contracts to describe the same step. Northern Ireland’s Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (as amended) provides an equivalent pay less notice regime. In Ireland, the Construction Contracts Act 2013 requires a payment response stating the amount proposed to be paid and reasons for any difference from the payment claim, performing a similar function. - Timing: the notice must be served before the final date for payment. - Content: it must specify the sum the payer considers due and the basis of calculation or grounds for withholding. - Consequences: failure to give a compliant notice generally obliges payment of the notified sum and may preclude set‑off against that payment in adjudication.
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View the related News about Withholding notice

NEWS
Implied novation despite NOM and termination clauses; estoppel and unreasonable refusal of consent to assignment: Gama Aviation (UK) Ltd v MWWMMWM Ltd [2022] EWHC 1191 (Comm) (England and Wales)

Gama Aviation (UK) Ltd and Another v MWWMMWM Ltd [2022] EWHC 1191 (Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? Key takeaways for practitioners include: NOM clauses: A party’s contractual rights and duties can be altered not only by variation but also by novation or termination. Anyone aiming to prevent such informal changes should adopt wording that makes this intention explicitly clear. contractual rights to terminate: Even where a clause grants a unilateral right to terminate by written notice, this may not stop the contract being discharged by an informal novation; whether it does will turn on the clause’s wording and the surrounding context. on covenants: As only reasons that genuinely influenced a party’s mind can justify the reasonableness of a refusal of consent, a party withholding consent should record its reasons at the time. The decision also supports interpreting such qualifications as rendering the covenants conditional on the covenantee acting reasonably, with the effect that the covenantor will be entitled validly to carry...

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NEWS
Anticipatory repudiation: acceptance must be clearly communicated; buyer entitled to terminate when seller could not perform: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) in Hitex v Uniserve

Advanced Multi-Technology for Medical Industry (trading as Hitex) & others v Uniserve Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 1212 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling is a pointed reminder of the risks that flow from a hesitant or ambiguous reaction to anticipatory breaches. An unlawful notice of termination can be seized upon by the other contracting party as an anticipatory repudiatory breach, thereby bringing the agreement to an end and opening the door to a claim for damages. Conversely, if that party elects not to treat the breach as discharging the contract, the contract persists and remains enforceable, with performance required from both sides. The Court of Appeal underscored that there is no halfway house: a party cannot purport to keep a bargain alive while withholding its own performance under it. The judgment is also significant because the Court of Appeal held that the first-instance judge decided the dispute on a basis that neither side had pleaded. The Court made clear that a judge is entitled...

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NEWS
England and Wales: Former director convicted for failing to comply with TPR section 72 notice; fined £7,500 plus £7,500 costs; case highlights enforcement over unpaid auto-enrolment contributions

Lewes Crown Court has ordered Lee Bartholomew, former company director of 1066 Target Sports Ltd., to pay a £7,500 penalty to TPR, plus £7,500 in legal costs ordered by the court. According to TPR, he appeared before the court in the southern county of East Sussex on 31 May 2024, TPR said. The regulator brought a prosecution in 2023, alleging that he had failed to provide necessary information during its investigation into his shooting range. He had denied the allegation in June 2023, before later pleading guilty to doing so. In his ruling in the case, Judge Stephen Mooney said Bartholomew chose to withhold documentation he ought to have provided, knowing that disclosing it would alert the regulator that he was not paying money where he should have done...

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PRACTICE NOTES
UK ORIP (offshore receipts from intangible property) 6 Apr 2019-30 Dec 2024: legislation, scope, exemptions, TAAR, de minimis, partnerships, administration, self-assessment and recovery; abolished by FA 2025 - archived

ARCHIVED : Section 20 of the Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025) repealed the offshore receipts in respect of intangible property (ORIP) regime for amounts accruing on or after 31 December 2024. Accordingly, ORIP is relevant only to receipts arising from 6 April 2019 through to and including 30 December 2024. The regime was withdrawn on the basis that the undertaxed profits rule (UTPR), which came into force in the UK on 31 December 2024, is expected to provide a more comprehensive deterrent to the multinational tax-planning arrangements that ORIP was designed to tackle. HMRC’s guidance at INTM620710 confirms that, for the 2024–25 tax year, entities within ORIP’s scope need only report ‘UK-derived amounts’ arising before 31 December 2024. For further detail on the UTPR, see: Multinational top-up tax and domestic top–up tax—overview...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Property Disputes: Where to Issue Claims, Applications, Appeals and Enforcement - Courts and Tribunals Guide (England and Wales)

Application to set aside a statutory demand served on an individual This Practice Note summarises the appropriate court or tribunal for issuing proceedings across common property dispute applications, such as setting aside statutory demands; opposed and unopposed Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 lease renewals; interim rent; assured and assured shorthold tenancy possession; light obstruction notice procedure; forfeiture; lease extensions and collective enfranchisement under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and Leasehold Reform Act 1967; boundary disputes; appeals from party wall awards; trespasser (squatter) possession and/or injunctions; enforcement of possession orders; Electronic Communications Code matters; modification of restrictive covenants; service charge dispensation; terminal dilapidations; proceedings for unreasonable withholding of consent; and rent review arbitration appeals... Type of PD application — Court/Tribunal — Authority — Further detail Application to set aside a statutory demand served on an individual — County Court, or in certain circumstances the High Court. County Court: The Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024, rr 10.4(4), 10.11,...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Acquisition and Leveraged Finance: Practitioner’s A–Z of Terms, Covenants, Structures and Jargon

This glossary sets out many of the expressions commonly used in the leveraged finance market. Words appearing in the definitions in bold are defined elsewhere in this glossary. For further banking terminology, please refer to the main Banking & Finance Glossary... Acquisition finance glossary—A Acceleration Acceleration is the formal action taken by the agent, on the instructions of the majority lenders, following an event of default, such as making a demand for early repayment of the loan. See Practice Note: Accelerating a loan for more information... Accordion feature/accordion facility An accordion, also called an incremental debt feature, is a mechanism in the facilities agreement that, provided specified conditions are satisfied (for example, pro forma compliance with a leverage test), permits those lenders under the facilities agreement who wish to do so to advance additional debt. The terms for that extra debt are typically captured in an increase notice. This accordion or incremental debt flexibility is different from structural adjustment, which usually requires the majority consent...

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View the related Precedents about Withholding notice

PRECEDENTS
Notice of Intention to Withhold Payment under section 111 Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Archived Precedent)

Project Name: Reference/Works Bundle: Date: To: Payment Notice Date: [ Sub- ] Contractor’s Application Reference Number: [ number ] Dated: [ date ] ARCHIVED: This precedent has been archived and is no longer maintained...

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PRECEDENTS
Minimum Purchase Commitment Clause for Distribution/Supply Agreements: remedies for shortfall (termination, loss of exclusivity, shortfall payment) and price increase adjustment

Definitions Minimum Purchase Commitment • Customer’s duty to purchase the Minimum Quantities or to place Orders meeting a minimum aggregate Price, per clause 1.1; Minimum Quantities • has meaning in [insert schedule]; Order • a written order in the prescribed form or any other agreed written form; Price • sum payable for any Order, excluding packaging, freight, insurance, customs and import/export duties, VAT (or equivalent sales tax), withholding or other tax. 1.1 Subject to clause 1.3, each Contract Year Customer shall purchase the Minimum Quantities or submit Orders totalling at least [insert amount] for Products. 1.2 If the Customer does not meet the Minimum Purchase Commitment in any Contract Year, this is a material breach entitling Supplier to: 1.2.1 terminate this Agreement on not less than [three] months’ written notice; or 1.2.2 appoint others as distributor, agent or buyer and/or supply directly in the Territory; exclusivity restrictions in [refer to clauses] shall not apply; or ...

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