Case No. HT-11-503

100.The general problems with the claim, of which the carpentry item was a good example, are discussed in paragraphs 59-71 above. The specific problems with the carpentry claim as presented are discussed in detail by Mr Thomas in his report at paragraphs 2.10.3-2.10.8. First, there is no detail provided of the work done. Mr Barber could not give such particulars, and Mr Penny said he could not remember the details of the work done and had nothing against which he could now check it. Given that there are already invoices from other contractors which were wrongly claimed (because the work was done on Mr Barber’s house boat), it is plainly a concern that SPL Marine are boat builders. With the telephone number and address deleted from their invoice, Mr Thomas was unable to contact them to find out in detail what they did. Mr Barber denied that the carpenters’ invoices concerned work carried out for his boat.101.Secondly, the large claim for carpenters in the reinstatement fit-out work needs to be contrasted with the costs of the original carpentry (on two floors) which were about £25,000. Mr Barber was able to offer no explanation as to how the costs had increased threefold for what was essentially the same work. Furthermore, such explanation as he did provide, such as his admission that the extensive panelling in the bar had not been installed at the time of the second inundation, meant that the labour cost for installing that panelling as part of the reinstatement fit-out (which is part of the claim) could not be properly recoverable against the defendants.102.Thirdly, as Mr Thomas made plain, it was impossible to work out what the carpenters were charging and/or were paid during the reinstatement fit-out works. For this reason alone, Mr Thomas said it was impossible to analyse the claim properly. 103.Fourthly, Mr Woodall agreed in his evidence that the carpentry claim as presented was too high, but – because of the way that he had approached the valuation – he was not able to come up with an alternative figure.104.Accordingly I find that, for the general reasons noted in paragraphs 78-91 above, and because of the specific deficiencies in the presentation of this carpentry claim, and the inadequacy of its supporting material (paragraphs 100-103 above), much of which was accepted by Mr Woodall, it is appropriate for the reasonable cost of this element of the work to be measured and valued pursuant to Mr Thomas’ methodology. By way of their closing submissions, it did not appear that Brit Inns ultimately disputed this conclusion.iii)