Departures schedule: the subcontract changes builders actually agree to
A departures schedule is a table listing each clause, its current wording, your proposed wording, a short reason and a blank column for the builder's response. Put corrections first, then the law, then the commercial asks, and add a special condition so the agreed departures override the rest of the contract.
Chapter 15: The departures schedule: what builders actually say yes to
Builders send departures schedules to developers on head contracts all the time. Subbies almost never send one back, because nobody showed them the table. It has five columns: the clause number, the original wording, your proposed wording with the changes marked, a reason of one to three sentences, and a blank column for the builder's response. That last column matters. A letter gets a letter back. A table gets worked through item by item, agreed or not agreed, and sent back.
Order matters more than content. Corrections go first: the wrong company, a completion date before the builder's own programme finishes your work, blank schedules that rank above the conditions. Then the law, which isn't up for negotiation. Then the money, ranked, with your top five named and the small items conceded out loud. Builders most often agree to corrections, the law, dockets as directions, LD caps and retention tied to your completion. They resist set-off limits and mutual termination. Never trade a law item, and trade rate for cap.
The part most schedules miss is the clause that makes it stick. Without it, the agreed departures sit in an email while you sign the original document, entire-agreement clause and all. Write a special condition into the blank schedule that incorporates the departures and says they prevail over everything else. On the façade contract the schedule ran to fifty-one items, and the corrections alone were worth more than $200,000.
- 1Five columns: clause, original wording, proposed wording, reason, and a blank column for the builder's response.
- 2Order the schedule as corrections, then the law, then commercial asks ranked with your top five named.
- 3Builders concede what costs them nothing on a good job and what they didn't know was in the document.
- 4Without a precedence clause incorporating the departures, an entire-agreement clause can undo everything you negotiated.
Build the five-column table in a spreadsheet, with the precedence clause as row one and the twelve-line checklist from chapter 14 as the rows that follow. Save it as a template. Read the next draft subcontract against it before anything else, and send the builder the table before you sign.
Common questions
What is a departures schedule in a subcontract?
It's a table setting out the changes you want to a subcontract before signing: the clause, the current wording, the proposed wording, a reason and space for the builder's response. Builders use them with developers on head contracts. For subcontractors, it turns a vague request into a document the builder can work through item by item.
How do I make sure agreed changes end up in the subcontract?
Generally, make sure the agreed departures are written into the signed document itself, not just agreed by email. A special condition that incorporates the departures and says they prevail over the entire-agreement and precedence clauses helps. Also check no other clause reinstates what a departure removed. Get advice on the wording.
Free guides on this topic
A summary of chapter 15 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.