CONSTRUCTION LAW
Every contract has risk. Get practical commercial judgement from a team that has seen it all.
We work with commercial contractors, subcontractors and suppliers on the contracts they’re about to sign, the claims they need to get right, and the day-to-day administration that decides how a project actually goes.
100+ experts
Specialist capability available when you need it.
15+ years
Helping organisations navigate legal, safety, HR, governance and compliance challenges.
20+ industries served
Experience across construction, engineering, infrastructure, utilities, higher education, technology, financial services and more.
Most contract risk is priced in before anyone reads the contract
Construction contracts decide who carries the cost when a project moves.
Time bars, notice requirements, variation and extension of time regimes, liquidated damages, retention, security, and subcontracts that aren’t back-to-back with the head contract all shift risk onto whoever isn’t watching for it.
We act for contractors, subcontractors and principals. That means we can tell you not just what a clause does, but what the market will and won’t accept, and whether the risk you’re worried about is the one worth spending your negotiating capital on.
Support across the project, not just the contract
Source works with clients from the earliest procurement decisions through tendering, negotiation, delivery and administration, and on into maintenance and the life of the asset. Most clients don’t need all of it. Some need one afternoon.
Before the project
Preliminary risk and procurement advice
Delivery model and procurement strategy, early risk assessment, and getting your position sorted before you’re committed to a tender timetable. The cheapest time to deal with an unworkable time bar is before it’s in your contract.
During the project
Tender, contract and project support
Reviewing and negotiating head contracts, subcontract packages, supply terms and purchase orders. Then the work that follows: notices, variations, extension of time and delay claims, progress claims and the contractual correspondence that decides them.
Building your capability
Education, training and document suites
Contract manuals, template notices and document suites your team can actually use, process and procedure documentation, and training so contract administration doesn’t depend on one person remembering.
We supplement your team
We work with small-to-medium and mid-market commercial construction businesses: contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, consultants, and developers.
If contract risk currently sits with a commercial manager, a project manager or a director, that’s who we’re built for.
Some clients want us at the negotiating table. Most want us behind them, helping them frame a position, so they can make the right call and keep ownership of the relationship with the principal or the subcontractor.
Tier 1
Ongoing, everyday legal support
The contracts that cross your desk each week. Standard terms, purchase orders, subcontract packages, smaller tenders, quick sanity checks before something goes out. Fast turnaround, no project minimum.
Tier 2
Major works, design and construct, and the negotiations where the commercial stakes justify a considered position. Departure schedules, risk registers, negotiation strategy, and support at the table or in the background.
Tier 3
We help clients resolve and navigate disputes before formal proceedings. If a matter is heading that way, we work with our sister firm Hamilton Locke, so you get seamless support.
security of payment
Get the process right and the cash flow follows
Security of Payment legislation operates in every state and territory. The detail differs between jurisdictions, and the deadlines are short and strict. A payment claim in the wrong form can cost you the right to make it.
How we help:
- Reviewing your current process and identifying where it's exposed
- Guidance when you're making a claim, and when you're responding to one
- Training and resources so your commercial and project teams know what to send, and when
Are you concerned that…
- You signed a contract largely unamended because the tender timeframe was tight
- Your subcontracts aren't back-to-back, so you're carrying the same risk twice
- Variations and delays are being agreed on site and by email, without written direction
- Payment claims and schedules are going out late, or in the wrong form
- You're not sure how a subcontractor's payment claim should be answered, or by when
All of them are cheaper to fix now than to argue about later.
Frequently asked questions
When is the right time to bring you in?
Before you sign, if you can. Most of what we’re asked to fix later (an unamended time bar, a subcontract that isn’t back-to-back, a variations regime nobody can comply with on site) was locked in at contract stage and costs a fraction to deal with then.
That said, if the job has already moved, bring us in as soon as you can see it. Your options narrow with every notice period that passes.
We're owed money on a project. What can we do?
Start with the contract and the statutory position, because both run on deadlines. We’ll look at what’s been claimed, how and when it was served, what response came back, and what’s still open to you under Security of Payment legislation in your state.
We’ll also be straight with you about where that ends: we advise on compliance and recovery strategy, we don’t conduct adjudications. If that’s where it’s heading, we’ll work with Hamilton Locke rather than hand you off.
Do we need to be on a retainer?
No. Plenty of our construction work is one-off: a set of standard terms, a purchase order suite, a single tender. Some clients use us that way for years and never sign a retainer. Others prefer ongoing support because the volume justifies it. Either works.
Can you help our team run contracts better, rather than doing it for us?
Yes, and it’s some of the most useful work we do. Contract manuals, template notices, documented processes and training for your commercial and project staff. The aim is that your team can handle the routine work confidently and call us for the things that genuinely need advice.
Which states do you work across?
All of them. That matters most for Security of Payment, where the requirements and deadlines differ by jurisdiction, a process that works in New South Wales won’t necessarily comply in Queensland or Western Australia.