Construction and Infrastructure.

Construction and infrastructure projects can be complicated and protracted, but the project documents don’t need to be.

We can help you

We can help you with the support you need to prepare and negotiate contracts that are clear and easy to administer. We balance your organisations objectives, the current market position and your need to get contracts signed and projects delivered.

Our expertise and specialist knowledge is focused on:

• Aged care, retirement living and lifestyle community projects.
• Social housing developments.
• High end multi-dwelling residential developments.
• Boutique commercial developments.
• Building projects for schools and other education providers.

Infrastructure projects and maintenance agreements

In addition to this traditional construction work, we also regularly advise on infrastructure projects and maintenance agreements.

Dispute resolution

Where a construction or infrastructure project is heading towards or already in dispute, we also have experienced back-end construction lawyers to help avoid protracted and costly disputes. More about how they can help if a project is not running as it should is here.

What you can expect

Proactive and available

Our clients appreciate how accessible and responsive our lawyers, including the practice leader, are and the extra steps we take. We work closely with our clients as part of their team so they get the support needed when they need it. Our clients are not left waiting for the practice leader to call back and do not suffer (time, quality and cost) from junior lawyers being trained up on their matters. This level of service, when combined with our specialist knowledge of construction and infrastructure contracts and issues, helps achieve better and quicker project outcomes. It is also easier and more comforting for our clients.

Contracts that are fit for purpose

There are many ways to draft and negotiate a contract, particularly when working with clunky Australian Standards. Just like our clients, however, we dislike unnecessarily complicated, legalistic or uncommercial contracts. In particular, we see no point including terms which will inevitably be negotiated out with the other side – if the lawyer knows it is unreasonable, why include it in the first place? The contracts we prepare work and are clear and easy to administer. When preparing and negotiating contracts we also balance our clients’ objectives, the current market position and the need to just get contracts signed and projects delivered.

Fixed price

Our construction and infrastructure lawyers can provide the level of service and quality of documents they do because, in part, they always work on the basis of a pre-agreed scope and fixed price. We believe that this approach provides a range of benefits to our construction and infrastructure clients, including:

• price certainty for our clients irrespective of what surprises may arise – for example protracted negotiations with a builder;
• we can just get on with the job and our clients and their project managers can focus on project delivery, not the potential costs of its lawyers; and
• encouraging our clients and their project managers to consult with us regularly – if our support does not cost extra, there is no harm in asking a ‘dumb question’, getting a second opinion, obtaining extra support or providing us with additional information. This extra communication and assistance helps achieve better project outcomes.