The contracts that govern a construction project set the terms for everything that follows: scope, price, variations, delays, defects, and dispute resolution. Getting them right at the outset saves time, money, and relationships down the track.

We draft and negotiate construction contracts for builders, subcontractors, developers, and principals. This includes head contracts between principals and builders, subcontractor agreements and purchase order templates, consultancy agreements for architects, engineers, and other professionals, and supply agreements for materials and equipment.

For builders and subcontractors who work across multiple projects, we develop template contracts and purchase order forms that can be adapted for each engagement. This provides a consistent standard of protection without the cost of drafting from scratch every time.

We also review contracts that our clients have been asked to sign. In construction, it is common for the more powerful party to present its standard form contract on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. We help our clients understand the risks in those contracts and negotiate amendments where the terms are unreasonable or allocate risk unfairly.

We recently helped a Melbourne-based construction firm update its suite of subcontractor agreements and purchase order templates to reflect current legislative requirements and industry practice. The templates are now used across all of the firm’s projects.

The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (SOPA) provides a statutory right for builders, subcontractors, and suppliers to recover progress payments. It is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the construction industry, and understanding how it works is essential for anyone operating in the sector.

We advise on preparing and serving payment claims under the SOPA regime, responding to payment claims and adjudication applications, enforcing adjudication determinations, and the interaction between SOPA claims and contractual dispute resolution mechanisms.

SOPA claims operate on strict timelines. Missing a deadline can mean losing the right to recover a payment or being unable to challenge an adjudication. If you are involved in a payment dispute on a construction project, it is important to get advice early.

We’ve helped builders and consultants obtain vital payments to keep their businesses afloat via the SOPA regime.

The construction industry relies heavily on contractor and subcontractor arrangements, and the legal framework around these engagements has become more complex in recent years. The distinction between an employee and an independent contractor is particularly important in construction, where the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman actively investigate sham contracting arrangements.

We advise on structuring contractor and subcontractor relationships, drafting employment agreements for construction staff, workplace health and safety compliance, and restraints of trade for key employees and subcontractors.

For one of our long-standing construction clients, we developed a complete suite of subcontractor engagement documents, including agreements, purchase orders, and WHS acknowledgements, that the business now uses across all of its projects.

Read more about our employment law practice.

Construction businesses are bought and sold, restructured, and recapitalised just like businesses in any other industry. But construction transactions have particular features: work in progress, retention amounts, defects liability periods, ongoing contractual obligations, and the personal relationships that drive project pipelines all need to be addressed in the transaction.

We advise on business sales and acquisitions involving construction companies, shareholder agreements and partnership structures for construction ventures, and corporate governance and restructuring for construction businesses.

Read more about our work on mergers, acquisitions and investments.