Cost plus or fixed price? How contract type shifts risk on a NSW residential job
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the job costing more than expected. Get that allocation wrong and the argument arrives at practical completion, when there is no room left to fix it.
15 min read
Topic
Contracts
Articles and news about Contracts for Australian builders.
Cost plus or fixed price? How contract type shifts risk on a NSW residential job
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the job costing more than expected. Get that allocation wrong and the argument arrives at practical completion, when there is no room left to fix it.
15 min read
Back charges and subcontractor disputes: doing it so it sticks
A back charge is only as strong as the clause you agreed and the evidence you kept. Here is how to run the process so it survives a payment dispute.
11 min read
Avoiding building disputes in NSW before they start
Most building disputes are set up long before anyone raises their voice. The contract, the variation trail and the site records you keep in the first weeks decide how the argument ends.
10 min read
When the build doesn’t match the DA: statutory modification pathways in NSW
A contract variation changes what you are paid for. A modification changes what you are legally allowed to build. Confusing the two is how a job ends up with work that no consent covers.
10 min read
Handling a difficult client without losing the job: escalation and exit options
Every difficult client starts as a normal one. The job is won or lost in how you recognise escalation, use the contract, and choose between holding the job and exiting it cleanly.
12 min read
Working with conditions on your NSW construction certificate
A construction certificate is only half the approval. The conditions attached to it are the part that gets audited on site, and they are the part most often lost between the approval file and the trades.
12 min read
Neighbour access, damage and complaints on a residential site
Neighbour consent to access is a commercial risk you can close out before the excavator arrives. Here is how to document adjoining property, handle damage claims, and answer complaints without accepting liability you do not own.
13 min read
Managing subcontractors on NSW residential sites: the day-to-day controls that keep a job moving
Contract terms set the frame, but a job is won or lost in how you run the trades each day. Sequencing, supervision, written direction and defect close-out are what stop a programme sliding.
11 min read
Site photo records that stand up in a dispute
A photo proves what it shows only if you can also prove when it was taken, where, and what it was meant to record. Frames, metadata and retention decide whether your site photos are evidence or just pictures.
11 min read
Provisional sums and prime cost items: pricing what the client has not chosen yet
The two allowances that cause most of the arguments at the end of a job. What each one is actually for, how to set them so the adjustment does not turn into a dispute, and how to explain the difference to a client before they pick the tapware.
11 min read
What actually drives construction costs in Australian residential building
Material prices, labour supply, fuel, regulation and finance all push residential construction costs around, and most of them sit outside your control. The builders who survive the cycle are the ones who price the mechanism, not the moment.
11 min read
Owner-builder permits in NSW: what a licensed builder must check before starting
An owner-builder permit lets the owner take legal control of residential building work. That changes your contract, your insurance position and your supervision duties long before you set foot on site.
15 min read