Construction Contract Specialists
Contract Review & Drafting
Construction contracts reviewed, drafted, amended and negotiated by a contract specialist and lawyer who is also a registered architect
Almost every construction dispute can be traced back to the contract. Review and drafting is the work that deals with the problem while it is still cheap to fix, before the terms have hardened into obligations.
Christopher Larcos is a construction contract specialist and lawyer with a practice built on more than 40 years in the construction industry and nearly 25 years in legal practice. As a dual-qualified solicitor and registered architect, he reads a contract for how it will run on site as well as how it reads on the page, which is the difference between identifying a legal issue and identifying the one that will actually cause trouble.
The work covers the standard forms used across Australian construction, the ABIC suite, the Australian Standard suite including AS 4000, AS 2124, AS 4300 and AS 4902, and the HIA and Master Builders forms, as well as subcontracts, consultancy agreements, and bespoke contracts drafted from scratch where no standard form fits.
Advice is provided remotely from a New South Wales base for projects anywhere in Australia, whether in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, or Darwin. What changes from one jurisdiction to the next is the law the contract is read against: the residential building legislation and the security of payment Act of the state where the work is carried out.
What Contract Review & Drafting Covers
Front-end contract work across the whole life of a contract, from choosing the form through to negotiating the final version, for projects in every Australian state and territory.
Contract Review Before Signing
A structured read of the whole contract, not only the clauses that catch the eye: the commercial deal, the payment regime, the risk allocation, and statutory compliance, reported in plain language with the amendments needed to fix what is wrong.
Drafting & Amending Standard Forms
Special conditions and amendments drafted to sit cleanly against the form they modify, whether that is an ABIC contract, an Australian Standard form such as AS 4000 or AS 4902, or an HIA or Master Builders contract.
Bespoke Contracts Drafted From Scratch
Where no standard form fits the arrangement, a purpose-drafted contract for the project: staged or novated delivery, unusual payment or funding structures, multi-party arrangements, and one-off commissions.
Contract Selection & Structuring
Advice before anything is drafted on which form the project needs and how the contractual arrangements should be structured, the point in a project at which specialist input changes the most for the least cost.
Subcontracts & Consultancy Agreements
Review and drafting of subcontracts, client architect agreements, and subconsultant agreements, with particular attention to back-to-back terms flowed down from the head contract and the risk they transfer.
Negotiation & Counter-Drafting
Marking up and negotiating the contract or special conditions the other side has put forward, to reach a workable position without stalling the project or the relationship.
Review, Amend, or Draft From Scratch?
Most engagements start as one of three things, and it is worth being clear which one a project needs before any work begins.
A review
Suits the common case
A contract has been handed over, it is on a standard form, and you need to know what you are agreeing to and what should change before you sign it.
Building contract reviewAn amendment
The usual answer to a review
On a standard form that means special conditions drafted to work with the base form rather than against it, kept in the schedule the form provides for exactly that purpose.
Special conditionsDrafting from scratch
A considered choice, not a default
Warranted where the arrangement has no standard-form equivalent: an unusual delivery or funding structure, or a multi-party commission. It costs more and takes longer.
If the form itself has not been settled yet, that decision comes first. The guide comparing the main building contracts sets out how the HIA, ABIC and Master Builders forms differ, and tendering and procurement covers the delivery-model choice that sits above it.
How a Drafting Engagement Runs
Drafting is not writing clauses in isolation. Each engagement works through the same six stages, adapted to the contract and the project.
Establish the deal
Pin down what the parties have actually agreed: scope, price, how the price is set, the programme, and who is carrying which risks. Ambiguity here is what most disputed clauses are really about.
Fix the base position
Confirm the standard form and edition to be used, or establish that a bespoke contract is warranted, and identify every document that will form part of the agreement.
Draft to the form
Write the amendments so they engage the machinery the base form already provides, rather than sitting beside it, using the special conditions schedule and order-of-precedence provision as intended.
Test against the statute
Check the result against the residential building legislation and security of payment regime of the relevant jurisdiction, so nothing that must be in the contract is missing and nothing drafted is unenforceable.
Read it back as a whole
Re-read the full contract with the amendments in place, looking for the internal conflicts that only appear once the pieces are assembled.
Negotiate and settle
Where the other side marks it up, work through their position and land a final version both parties can sign and administer.
Why Use a Contract Specialist Rather Than a Generalist?
A generalist solicitor can tell you what a contract says. The difference a specialist makes is knowing what it will do.
Contracts are systems, not clause lists
The payment regime, the variation procedure, the extension of time machinery and the dispute provisions are interlocking. A clause that reads sensibly on its own can still break the mechanism it sits inside, and recognising that requires knowing the form.
A specialist knows which problems are real
Across hundreds of contracts the same failures recur. Knowing which issues actually cause trouble on site, rather than flagging everything that looks unusual, is what keeps advice proportionate and usable.
The architect's side supplies what legal practice alone cannot
Progress claims get valued, variations get priced, delays get assessed and certificates get issued by people working to a programme. Terms that ignore that reality get ignored in return, and unfollowed procedures are worse than absent ones because they create breaches.
The failures that recur
- Payment provisions that do not sit properly with the security of payment legislation
- Special conditions that contradict the terms they purport to amend
- Variation procedures that leave scope disputes unresolved
- Extension of time regimes that create bar dates nobody intended
- Residential contracts missing terms the governing Act requires
- Administration provisions that blur who decides what, and when
Every one of these is visible in the contract before it is signed, and fixable through properly drafted amendments. The cost of addressing them pre-contract is trivial against the cost of resolving them mid-construction.
Who Contract Review & Drafting Helps
Owners and developers about to sign a building contract
Builders reviewing terms proposed by an owner, developer, or architect
Subcontractors handed back-to-back terms flowed down from a head contract
Architects preparing contracts for projects they will administer
Consultants negotiating their own appointment and liability terms
Parties whose arrangement does not fit any standard form
Anyone amending a standard form with special conditions
Legal practitioners seeking specialist construction contract input for their clients
Common questions
What does a construction contract specialist do?
A construction contract specialist works on the contract itself, rather than only on the dispute that follows one. That means advising which form suits the project, reviewing a contract before it is signed, drafting the special conditions or bespoke terms it needs, and negotiating the version the other side has proposed. The distinction from a general commercial lawyer is knowledge of the standard forms used in the industry, how each allocates risk, and how their terms behave once construction is under way.
Is a construction contract specialist the same as a construction contract lawyer?
In practice they describe the same work from different angles. “Lawyer” names the qualification, and only a solicitor can advise you on what a contract means or act for you in a dispute about it. “Specialist” names the depth: knowing the standard forms, how each allocates risk, and how the terms behave once construction is under way. The useful test is whether both are present. Christopher Larcos is a practising solicitor whose contract practice is confined to construction, and a registered architect, rather than a generalist who handles building matters occasionally.
What is the difference between contract review and contract drafting?
A review tells you what a contract in front of you actually does: where the risk sits, whether the payment regime works, and whether it complies with the legislation that governs it. Drafting changes the document, either by writing special conditions and amendments to a standard form or by preparing a contract from scratch. The two usually run together, because a review that identifies a problem is only useful if the amendment that fixes it can be drafted.
Which construction contracts do you review and draft?
The ABIC suite, the Australian Standard suite including AS 4000, AS 2124, AS 4300 and AS 4902, HIA and Master Builders contracts, subcontracts and consultancy agreements including client architect agreements, and bespoke contracts drafted for a specific project. Work spans residential and commercial building, for owners, developers, builders, subcontractors, architects, and consultants.
Can a construction contract be drafted from scratch?
Yes, though it is not always the right answer. A standard form amended by well-drafted special conditions is usually cheaper, faster, and more predictable, because the base form is familiar to both sides and has been tested in practice. A bespoke contract earns its cost where the arrangement genuinely has no standard-form equivalent, such as an unusual delivery or funding structure or a multi-party commission.
When is the best time to involve a contract specialist?
Before the contract is signed, and ideally before it is drafted. Most construction disputes arise from issues that were visible in the contract, and once it is executed the options narrow to what the terms already allow. Involvement at the selection and structuring stage costs the least and changes the most; involvement at signing still allows amendment; involvement after a dispute has crystallised is limited to interpreting what is already there.
Do you review and draft contracts for projects outside New South Wales?
Yes. Advice is provided remotely from a New South Wales base for projects anywhere in Australia. What changes between jurisdictions is the law the contract is read against: the residential building legislation and the security of payment Act of the state or territory where the work is carried out, both of which are checked as part of any review or drafting engagement.
Keep reading
Building contract review
The review-before-signing engagement in depth: what it covers, how it runs, and the issues it most often finds.
ContinueABIC contract specialists
Specialist advice on the architect-administered ABIC suite, from the author of the ABIC special conditions.
ContinueWhich building contract is right for you?
A balanced comparison of the HIA, ABIC, Master Builders and other forms, and where each one fits.
ContinueNeed a Contract Reviewed or Drafted?
Whether you have a contract in front of you, a set of special conditions to settle, or an arrangement that needs drafting from scratch, get in touch to discuss what the project needs.
Need pre-drafted amendments you can license today? Browse the ABIC Special Conditions shop. Looking for a construction lawyer in your state or city? Browse construction law advice by location.
Specialist Credentials
- Dual-qualified solicitor and registered architect
- Author of the Special Conditions for ABIC contracts
- Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (FRAIA)
- Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours (LLB, Hons I)
- Bachelor of Architecture (BArch)
- 40+ years in the construction industry
- Adjudicator across five Australian jurisdictions
- Former NSW & Queensland Editor, Building & Construction Law Journal