We take the mental load of reviewing and negotiating contracts off your shoulders...
We know lawyers have a bad reputation for complicating contract negotiations. Over the years, we have seen departure schedules prepared by lawyers that ask for changes that aren't even relevant to the subcontractor's trade. This often happens because the lawyer doing the review has little to no knowledge of the construction industry, and the way your trade work is carried out.
Our Contract Review Service has been designed by our Principal Lawyer, Michelle Cirson, and adopts the review and negotiation process she honed as a builder's contracts administrator early in her career.
We work with hundreds of subcontractors every year to help them obtain contract terms that reflect the nature of their trade, and the job at hand.Â
This means we know precisely what to ask for, and how to ask for it, to grease the wheels in your negotiation with your builder.
Â
What you can expect from us
Inclusions
- Providing you with an industry specific trade credit report for your builder;
- If the contract is a construction management trade contract, obtaining a title search for the land to ascertain whether the entity you will contract with is also the land owner;
- Speaking with you to come to grips with the project, your operational needs and constraints, any prior discussions or oral agreements with the builder and the nature of the work to be performed;
- Where necessary, providing you with licensing advice in respect of your work and/or the builder’s licensing capacity;
- Reading and analysing the builder’s contract, and preparing a recommended departures schedule designed for you to provide to your builder;
- Liaising with you further to provide oral advice in respect of the contents of the contract, and to explain the recommended departures, so that you understand what departures you are asking the builder to make to their contract, and why you are asking for them;
- When you are happy with the departure schedule, we will provide you with an email for you to send to your builder, explaining the departure schedule and pointing out anything specific you need to bring to their attention;
- Assisting you in responding to the builder's replies to your departures (and objections) for up to two iterations. If after two iterations you have still not reached an agreement, we can assist you by liaising directly with the builder for a further fee;
- Checking the contract to make sure the builder made the final agreed changes, immediately before you sign the contract;
Exclusions
-
Written advice, other than the departures schedule;
-
Meeting in person with you, or direct communication with your builder;
-
Writing special conditions;Â
-
Building advice (eg. scope of work, NCC, WHS, EBA compliance), drawing audits, programming/scheduling;
-
Reviewing separate contracts (eg. Head Contract);
-
Reviewing your Insurance Policy terms and conditions or liaising with your insurer;
-
Providing you with a Security Agreement under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009, or making any registrations on your behalf on the Personal Property Securities Register.Â
We won't tell you not to sign contracts...
We understand you need to sign contracts so that you can bring in revenue for your business. That will always involve some element of risk.
Over the years we have seen lawyers tell subcontractors not to sign a contract, because it's too risky.
We know you aren't paying us to advise you not to do business; you're asking us to help you do business in the safest way practicable, taking into account all of your commercial circumstances.
It is our job to help you find a way to identify where those risks lie, so that you can do business transactions with eyes wide open, and put in place a strategy to minimise that risk.
That said, on very rare occasions builders have told subcontractors they want to end negotiations because the subcontractor has given the builder a departure schedule, or ultimately requested changes.
We can't guarantee you that won't happen. There is always a possibility a builder might pull a job because your competition are prepared to blindly sign the builder's contract.
Your Contract Review is not yet booked.
Please enter your details below and you will be taken to a page that provides you with the fixed fee, and an estimate of current turnaround time for a Contract Review. You are not obliged to proceed with the review, simply because you have entered your details. We will never share your details with anybody