There's a contract in front of me, unsigned

The drafting side has spent years refining their contract. Somewhere in it sit the clauses that decide how you get paid, what happens when things change, who carries which risk, and how quickly you must shout before losing your rights. Every week after signature they get more expensive to live with.

The problems come in four kinds: terms simply wrong for the deal you struck, terms that will not survive the Construction Act, terms unusual for the industry, and terms lawful but loaded against you. You do not need to read the whole thing with a lawyer's eye; you need someone who reads these documents constantly to mark where yours bites.