Building & Construction

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Overview

Since every Building and Construction Project and Contract is unique, ITC provides practical, timely, commercially focused and cost effective solutions customised to your role as either the ‘Principal’ or the ‘Contractor’.

Wherever possible, we provide fixed price ‘products’ designed to address a particular stage of the process.

ITC’s services commence with evaluating the proposed risk allocation from the outset, and extend throughout each stage of the project and culminate in managing final payment claims and the return of outstanding security at the end of the last defects liability period.

Contracts & Agreements

ITC works with you to identify and assess risk exposure at both an overall ‘corporate’ level and on a ‘project-specific’ basis.

We then provide cost effective project documentation customised to the project risk.

For project based ‘standard’ contracts common in the industry, ITC will recommend, and, where appropriate, negotiate on your behalf to incorporate project specific amendments to deliver a balance of risks and opportunities that accurately reflect your particular exposure level.

When ‘standard’ contracts are not appropriate or cost effective, ITC will develop customised documents including:

  • construct only contracts and subcontracts
  • design and construct contracts and subcontracts
  • consultancy agreements
  • construction management and project management agreements
  • services and supply agreements

Claims Management & Security of Payment

Consistent and timely management of contractual requirements is critical to maximising your recovery of all possible entitlements.

Managing progress claims to include and substantiate those entitlements is the key to maintaining cash flow and minimising disputes.

In addition to the contractual mechanisms, all Australian States and Territories now provide statutory entitlements to payment under the relevant ‘Security of Payment (SoP) Act’. Those SoP entitlements operate in addition to, and parallel to, any contractual rights.

While the SoP Acts are designed to improve cash flow by dealing with the valuation of payments related to regular progress claims, there are a myriad of other issues and claims likely to impact on any building and construction project.

ITC combines legal knowledge with practical experience across all forms of claims for issues including:

  • Site and Latent Conditions
  • Design Discrepancies
  • Delays and Extensions of Time
  • Liquidated Damages and Delay Costs
  • Variations
  • Defect Rectification

We provide an objective and commercially focused overview that will allow you to recover your maximum entitlements for all work completed and deliver reasonable assessments of claims made against you by subcontractors and suppliers.

Dispute Resolution

Wherever possible, ITC will work with you to attempt to negotiate a commercially acceptable settlement of any claims that arise from the earliest possible time.

Where there is an issue regarding payment that cannot be resolved by negotiation, wherever possible we will guide you through complying with the strict timing requirements of the relevant SoP Act for preparing the necessary Payment Claims, Payment Schedules and Adjudication Applications and Responses.

Where a particular claim involves issues that are either not strictly ‘payment related’, or have been excluded from the particular SoP regime, we will provide you with a choice of options and strategies for reaching a commercially acceptable formal resolution.

ITC’s lawyers can prepare and provide strategies and represent you as needed, in addressing disputes in all forums ranging from Mediation to Expert Determination or Arbitration and when all else fails, Litigation in the appropriate Court.

Training & Education

Changes in Legislation, together with decisions by the Courts mean that it is essential for everyone involved in building and construction to keep up to date with the latest developments.

ITC provides both urgent email alerts and regular newsletters that identify and explain the relevant changes and the practical impacts those changes are likely to have on the day to day operation and administration of construction projects.

As a key part of our services ITC provides training and education for our clients and their project teams to suit their busy schedules by providing:

  • lunch time training sessions of approximately 1 hour
  • seminars and workshops of approximately 3 to 4 hours

We can also design a series of ‘sessions’ to best fit with the particular needs of your project teams, including the following popular topics:

  • Fundamentals of Construction Contracts
  • Engaging & Working with Subcontractors
  • Delays & Extensions of Time
  • Variations & recovering the time and cost of Extra Work
  • Payment, Cash Flow Management & Insolvency
  • Practical Application of Security of Payment

consistent and timely management of contractual requirements is critical to maximising your recovery of all possible entitlements