Negotiating a subcontract: your leverage peaks before you sign
Your leverage peaks in the short window after the builder has chosen you but before you sign, usually when a draft subcontract with your name in it arrives. Ask then: lead with corrections and the law, give a reason for each commercial ask, and rank what matters most.
Chapter 10: You have more leverage than you think, and less time to use it than you know
The most expensive belief in the industry is that if you push on the terms, you'll lose the job. Builders lose jobs over price, and only sometimes. What loses a job is asking badly, asking late, or asking for something that costs more than you're worth to them. Draw your leverage on a line across a job: low at quote stage, peaking between the builder choosing you and you signing, then falling off a cliff the day the document is executed.
The tell that you're in the running is simple, and I first put it into words for a façade installer I was helping: your company name typed into the draft subcontract. At that point the builder has committed, and re-tendering means delay. If you're already on site working off a purchase order, your leverage is even stronger, because your right to be paid under the Act doesn't depend on a signed subcontract.
How hard you push depends on one honest question: do I need this job? Either way, negotiate on interests, not positions. Don't just demand 30-day terms; explain the gap between paying your crew weekly and the builder's money landing, and let them solve it. Keep the person separate from the problem. Lead with their own paper, then the law, then the money with reasons, and rank your asks so they have something to say yes to.
- 1Your leverage peaks after the builder picks you and before you sign, and drops the day the subcontract is executed.
- 2A draft subcontract with your company name typed in is the clearest sign the builder has committed.
- 3Write the interest behind each ask in one sentence a site manager would understand, then ask for that.
- 4Non-payment hands leverage back: every state's Act lets you suspend on notice without breaching the contract.
Open the last subcontract you signed. Find the date the draft arrived and the date you signed it. That gap, however short, was your leverage. Next time, make it a week, and use it.
Common questions
Will I lose the job if I negotiate subcontract terms?
Usually not. Builders negotiate terms with trades every day and are more likely to walk over price than over reasonable departures. The risk comes from asking late, asking without reasons, or asking for everything at once. Ask before you sign, rank your asks, and explain the interest behind each one.
When is the best time to negotiate a subcontract?
Generally in the window after the builder has chosen you but before you sign, often when the draft subcontract with your name in it arrives. After signing, your position is mostly whatever the document gives you. If you're already working without a signed subcontract, that gap can also be leverage, so use it to settle the terms.
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A summary of chapter 10 of Screwed Down by Mat Kennedy. Index figures are as they stood when the book was written (Sept 2026); the live numbers are on the Index. Amazon ranking as seen in September 2026. General information, not legal advice.