Case No. HT-11-503

i) The Claim114.The pleaded claim in relation to the electricians is £42,594.73. 115.The experts have agreed to reject some of the invoices because they relate to work carried out after The Oak was up and running. That reduced the claim to £36,048.43. A lesser figure of £33,812.25 was maintained in the closing submissions. ii) The Problems With The Claim As Presented116.The claim for electricians suffers from the general problems noted at paragraphs 59-77 above. The specific problems with the claims as presented are set out in section 2.7 of Mr Thomas’ report. Again, the invoices give only a very general description of the work for which a charge was being rendered. There is also little to identify the appropriate rates. In addition, Mr Thomas identified at paragraph 2.7.4 of his report detailed queries about the invoices on which the claim is based, including the risk that they related to works which were nothing whatsoever to do with the second inundation. Mr Thomas also said that he failed to understand why three completely different electrical contractors were working on the project at identical times, and that no proper explanation for this had been given. In view of the paucity of information in the invoices, Mr Thomas considered that he had no option but to undertake his own valuation from scratch. 117.In my judgment, these problems with the invoices were not made good by the factual evidence. Mr Barber made plain that he could not help with the detail and had no idea as to what hours or days were being claimed, and what the detail of the work was. He said that he was not involved in the decision-making process that had led to the engagement of two different firms. Mr Penny, who was, was also unable to provide any information as to the detail that was not apparent from the face of the invoice. His explanation for the three contractors – that there was a lot of work – ignored the fact that the scope was no greater than the original fit-out works.118.In those circumstances, it again seemed to me that the only reliable valuation of this work was that carried out by Mr Thomas. The reasons why I favour Mr Thomas’ approach, set out at paragraphs 78-91, apply again. The lack of information in the documentation meant that the electrical invoices were, in my view, an unreliable way to assess the reasonable value of the work carried out. iii) Mr Thomas’ Valuation119.Mr Thomas spoke to Mr Collins of JP Electrical and Mr Hawkey of Quest Electrical about the work that they performed. I have addressed the reasons why such discussions were, in this case, appropriate in paragraphs 74-75 above. He then produced a measurement and valuation of the work that they said they carried out in the sum of £13,250. The biggest item of that was £12,500 for the basic work. In cross-examination he gave further details of these conversations. He said that those conversations only served to confirm his view that the work in the invoices had not been carried out.120.Accordingly, subject to the paragraphs below, I find that the figure of £13,250 represented a proper and reasonable valuation of the electricians’ labour costs. iv)