Quick answer

Leaving submitted daywork records unsigned does not defeat the claim: where the records were submitted on time and not challenged, the onus shifts to the architect or engineer to prove them wrong, so the records stand for payment unless the employer can produce convincing evidence that they are inaccurate, as JDM Accord v Secretary of State shows

Leaving submitted daywork records unsigned does not defeat the claim. In JDM Accord Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the contractor submitted time records on a time-recorded contract, but there was no representative on every site to agree them, and payment was refused for want of records signed by both parties. The judge held that, because the recorded time had not been challenged when the timesheets were submitted, the onus was on the paying party to prove the information wrong, and the timesheets stood without further proof of accuracy unless it could bring forward convincing evidence of inaccuracy. An architect or engineer who receives daywork records and leaves them unsigned therefore risks having to disprove them later or certify them in full. Where there is a real disagreement, it should be raised when the records are submitted, identifying precisely which hours are challenged, failing which the burden shifts to the employer.