The Signing Gap: Agreeing December Delivery Dates That Hold Up in January

Early December is when project plans develop a hopeful glow. A supplier says the van will be with you before Christmas. The site team says they are around until the 23rd. Finance says the invoice can wait. None of those statements is a delivery plan.

A late-December delivery only counts if three things happen in sequence: the right goods arrive, someone with the right knowledge checks them, and someone with the right authority signs for them. Miss the middle or last step and you have not received a delivery. You have parked a problem in a loading bay.

The only date worth agreeing is the acceptance date

Suppliers quote despatch cut-offs. Couriers quote delivery windows. Your project needs an acceptance date: the last date and time by which goods can arrive and still be checked, booked in and accepted by a named person before the Christmas break. Put that date on the purchase order or in a short written note to the supplier. Ask them to confirm two dates in writing: the date they will despatch, and the date they expect delivery. If those are the same week, ask what happens if the van is full, the pallet network is busy or the driver cannot find the gate.

For 2026 projects, this matters more than usual because the break is a real gap in site cover, not just a pair of bank holidays. A supplier who says 'before Christmas' may mean 18 December. Your site may mean 23 December for goods-in and 24 December for nothing at all. Those are different promises.

Check the bay, not just the calendar

Goods-in capacity often shrinks before the site does. The forklift driver is on leave. The loading bay is full of welfare units. The security cabin has a list of names that does not include a courier. Before you agree a date, walk the route the van will take. Confirm opening hours, booking requirements, tail-lift or crane needs, and where the goods will sit if inspection cannot happen immediately.

If the delivery needs two people to unload, say so. If the van needs a hard standing rather than a grass verge, say so. If the gate code changes over the break, send the new one in writing. These details sound small until a driver is idling outside a locked gate on 23 December and the supplier adds a failed-delivery charge to the January invoice.

Inspection is the step that goes missing

Some deliveries need a QA check, a clerk of works, a client representative or a specialist subcontractor. If that person is not available until 5 January, a 22 December delivery is not an accepted delivery. It is stored material with unresolved risk. Decide now whether you are accepting the goods into storage, asking the supplier to hold them, or arranging an off-site inspection. Write down who owns the risk if the goods sit unchecked over the break.

This is where a delivery note can become a trap. A security guard signing for three pallets is not technical acceptance. A site manager signing to get the van away is not a quality check. If the goods are damaged, short or simply the wrong variant, the January conversation is much harder once someone has signed clean.

Name the receiver, and the deputy

'The site team will sign for it' is not a receiver. Put a name, a mobile number and a deputy on the note. Brief the security team. If a courier arrives outside the agreed window, the default answer should be: do not unload until the named receiver or deputy confirms. That sounds rigid. It is cheaper than a missing pallet and a January argument.

The note should also tell suppliers what to do if they cannot make the date. A short call before despatch is better than a hopeful van. Ask for the transport desk number, not just the sales contact who is already on leave.

The one-page note

Keep it to a page and send it to every supplier with an open order due before the break. It should cover:

• The last acceptable delivery date and time for each open order
• The supplier's despatch cut-off and the courier or pallet network booking reference
• Goods-in hours and any reduced opening times over Christmas
• The named receiver and deputy, with mobile numbers
• Inspection requirements and who performs them
• Storage location and risk ownership if inspection is delayed
• The PO number that must appear on the delivery note and invoice
• An escalation contact for the supplier's transport desk

It is not a long document. It is a record that stops the usual January conversation: 'We thought someone was in' versus 'We thought you knew we were closed.'

What this does to the January invoice

Finance will usually match three things: purchase order, goods received note and invoice. If the delivery arrived but no one booked it in, the invoice has nothing to match against. If someone signed a delivery note without checking the goods, you may have accepted damage or a short delivery without meaning to. A short note in December gives finance a clean record in January. It also gives the supplier a clear instruction: do not send a van that no one can receive.

The last van of December is not a finish line. It is a handover between the supplier, the loading bay and the person who signs. Agree the acceptance date, check the bay, name the receiver and make sure inspection is either booked or explicitly deferred. Then a late-December delivery is a controlled event rather than a surprise with a delivery note attached.