Contracts

I'm worried a time bar is quietly running against me

Something has happened on the job, and I have a feeling the contract wanted to hear about it by a deadline.

I've already signed and something feels off

The job is running, the contract is binding, and I'm starting to see what I agreed to.

There's no written contract, we just started

The job is running on a quote, a few emails and goodwill, and something has now gone wrong.

My site team runs the job, not the contract

The work is good, but the notices, records and deadlines the contract expects just aren't happening on site.

Nobody has checked what the defined terms actually say

One capitalised word can be defined into meaning something the rest of the clause never suggests, and that is where the money moves.

It's a bespoke form and we're administering it on habit

It reads like a standard form until the clause matters, and by then the process has already been run the wrong way.

Their set-off clause reaches into our other contracts

A deduction earned on one job can land on this one, and we signed it.

The payment clause is lawful and behaves like pay-when-paid

It never says the words, and the money still does not move until somebody upstream has been paid.

Signed Contract Review

Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors5 working days

I review the contract you have already signed and hand you its risk map and working rules: every deadline that bites, every clause likely to be used against you, and what to do about each.

Read the amendments first

Chase every defined term to its definition

Check the order of precedence against the documents you actually have

Read for what is missing

Treat time bars as the sharpest teeth in the document

Look for clocks the other side controls

Read the indemnities against your insurance

Check liquidated damages for a cap and a comparison

Propose wording, not complaints

Categorise every issue before you argue any of them

Keep one record of the whole negotiation

Open calmly and early

Compare the signature draft against the agreed one

Never start work on a letter of intent you have not read like a contract

Turn the signed contract into a working summary

Diarise every notice period before the first one is running

What is an amended standard form?

A standard contract like JCT or NEC, plus a schedule of changes drafted by one side, and that schedule is where the risk hides.

Can a contract override the Construction Act?

No: where a construction contract falls short of the Act, the Scheme for Construction Contracts fills the gap.

What happens if the contract documents contradict each other?

An order of precedence clause decides which document wins, so a low-ranked set of conditions can quietly lose.

What is a time bar, and why is it dangerous?

A clause that can extinguish a right entirely if you miss a notice deadline, however good the underlying claim is.

What is the difference between JCT and NEC?

JCT values what happened after the fact; NEC prices change prospectively against a live programme, on strict deadlines.

What notice periods apply under JCT contracts?

Fewer hard deadlines than people fear in the unamended forms, but amendments routinely harden them into time bars, so read your own schedule first.

What notice periods apply under NEC contracts?

The headline is the 8 week compensation event bar. Around it sit short reply and quotation periods that keep the whole process moving week by week.

Are liquidated damages enforceable?

Usually yes. Courts uphold an LD rate unless it is out of all proportion to any legitimate interest in timely completion.

What should I check before signing a subcontract?

Five things: the payment timetable, the notice time bars, what counts as the contract documents, design responsibility, and the deductions machinery.

Do I really need a contract review before signing?

If the contract is amended, bespoke, or bigger than you can afford to get wrong, then yes.

What makes a contract term onerous?

A term that is lawful but shifts risk to you well beyond the normal position for that kind of contract.

Can the other side just refuse my amendments?

They can, but far fewer refuse than people expect, and how you present the amendments changes the odds.

Can I push back on amended payment terms before signing?

Yes, and before signature is the only cheap moment to do it. The Act guarantees the machinery; the periods and the paperwork are what you negotiate.

Is it safe to start work on a letter of intent?

Only if you read it as carefully as a full contract, because in law that is what it is.

I've already signed. Is a review still worth it?

Yes, but the job changes: it is no longer about changing the terms, it is about running them.

I never signed the contract. Do the terms still apply?

Often yes. Starting work can accept the terms by conduct, and where no terms were agreed the Scheme fills the payment gaps.