Lawyer for Builders
A Lawyer for Builders Who Knows the Build
Contract advice for builders on high-spec, architect-designed homes across Australia, from a solicitor who has spent his career in construction
Good builders lose money on the contract, not the build. The clauses that decide your margin, your payments and your time are settled before the first slab is poured.
Christopher Larcos is a solicitor who has spent more than 40 years in construction, including over 30 as a registered architect. He has stood where the architect stands, administering building contracts, so he reads a contract the way it will actually run on site.
That makes him a natural fit for builders working on architect-designed and premium homes, the projects where every detail is scrutinised and a loose contract costs the most. He speaks the same language as the architects who administer your contracts, so nothing is lost between the design side and the build.
Whether you are about to sign, waiting to be paid, or facing a variation or delay claim, the aim is simple: a contract that protects the work you do and the margin you earn.
Why builders choose Christopher
He knows how you build
More than 40 years in construction, and over 30 as a registered architect, means Christopher understands the site, the sequence and the pressures, not just the clauses.
He protects your margin
The money is won or lost in the payment, variation and time clauses. Christopher makes sure those work for you before you sign, so a fixed price stays a fair price.
Fluent in architect-run contracts
On architect-designed projects the contract is administered by the architect. Christopher speaks that language, so nothing is lost between the design side and the build.
Pitched at the calibre of your work
For builders whose name rests on the quality of the finished home, the contract has to hold to the same standard. Christopher advises at that level, where design and detail both matter.
What he advises builders on
From the contract you are about to sign to the dispute you did not see coming, help at the points where it counts.
Contract review before you sign
ABIC, Australian Standard and other building contracts read against how the job will actually run, with the terms worth negotiating flagged before you commit.
Payment and security of payment
Progress claims, payment schedules and getting paid on time, informed by Christopher's work as an adjudicator across five states.
Variations and extensions of time
The mechanisms that decide who carries the cost of change and delay, handled so a variation or an EOT claim is made and answered properly.
Disputes and adjudication
Advice when a payment, variation or delay dispute arises, aimed at resolving it early and keeping the project, and the relationship, on track.
Advising builders in Australia’s prime markets
Advice is provided remotely from a NSW base to builders working on high-spec homes across the country, with particular experience in each city’s premium residential markets.
Sydney
Across the eastern suburbs, the Lower and Upper North Shore and the Northern Beaches, price certainty on a prestige home lives or dies in the variation, provisional-sum and extension-of-time clauses. On architect-designed builds at this level, the contract has to hold as tightly as the detailing.
Melbourne
Toorak, Bayside and the Mornington Peninsula are design-led and specification-heavy. The contracts that protect a builder's margin here are the ones that pin down variations, prime cost items and the program before work starts, not after.
Brisbane
Riverfront and prestige suburbs such as Ascot, Hamilton and New Farm bring structurally ambitious, subtropical homes. Staged, complex builds need payment and time mechanisms that survive contact with the site.
Perth
The western suburbs, Dalkeith, Cottesloe and Peppermint Grove, are high-spec and often riverfront or coastal. Getting the contract and its special conditions right protects both margin and reputation on a landmark home.
Adelaide
Premium pockets such as Toorak Gardens and Medindie, and the Adelaide Hills, favour considered, high-quality builds. The contract should manage variations and completion as carefully as the workmanship.
Common questions
Do you act as a lawyer for builders?
Yes. Christopher advises builders on the contracts they sign and the disputes they run into, with particular experience on high-spec, architect-designed homes. Because he has administered building contracts as an architect, he reads a contract the way it will actually play out on site, not just how it looks on the page.
Should I have a building contract reviewed before I sign?
Almost always. The clauses that decide your margin, payment timing, variations and delay are set before work starts, and they are hard to fix once you have signed. A review before you commit is the cheapest point to catch the terms that will cost you, and to change the few that matter most.
Can you help me get paid?
Yes. Getting paid on time is the difference between a good job and a bad one. Christopher advises on progress claims, payment schedules and the security of payment regime, and as an adjudicator in five states he knows exactly how those claims are assessed. That insight goes into every piece of advice on payment.
Do you advise builders on ABIC contracts?
Yes. ABIC contracts are architect-administered, and on the calibre of project where they are used the builder needs to understand exactly how the contract runs. Christopher advises builders on ABIC contracts and the special conditions that go with them, so you sign knowing where you stand.
What if a variation or payment dispute has already started?
Christopher advises builders on variations, extensions of time and payment disputes, and on how to resolve them, whether through negotiation, adjudication or a formal process. Getting advice early, before positions harden, usually gives you the best result and keeps the project moving.
Keep reading
Building Contract Review
The single most useful step for a builder: know what a contract holds before you sign it.
ContinueSecurity of Payment
Progress claims, payment schedules and adjudication, from a lawyer who is also an adjudicator.
ContinueAustralian Standard Contracts
AS 4000, AS 2124 and the rest, reviewed, amended and negotiated for the project in front of you.
ContinueCredentials
- Solicitor with 40+ years in the construction industry
- Registered architect who has administered building contracts
- Adjudicator across five Australian jurisdictions
- Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (FRAIA)
- Former NSW & Queensland Editor, Building & Construction Law Journal