What should I check before signing a subcontract?
Five clauses do most of the financial damage in Australian subcontracts: payment terms (market median 25–30 days, statutory caps in QLD, NSW and WA), liquidated damages (reasonable rate, but capped at 5–10% of the subcontract sum), time bars (is late notice a problem, or does it kill the claim entirely?), set-off (does deduction require notice?), and retention (5% combined is the market cap). Everything else matters; these five decide whether a hard job becomes a catastrophic one.
Read consequences, not headings
Aggressive subcontracts don't look aggressive — they look long. The danger is never the heading, it's the consequence buried mid-clause: "shall have no entitlement unless", "may deduct without notice", "in the Contractor's absolute discretion", "until practical completion under the Head Contract". Each phrase moves risk quietly downhill to you.
Read the clauses as a system. An uncapped LD rate is priced by the EOT time bar next to it; long payment terms compound with a 10% retention; a set-off clause without notice makes every other entitlement collectable at the builder's discretion. Contracts are negotiated clause by clause but they take money from you in combinations.
Do it before you sign
Every position in this guide is negotiable on the way in and nearly impossible to retrofit afterwards. The scanner reads the whole contract in about 90 seconds, scores all of this against your state's Security of Payment law and live market data from real Australian subcontracts, and hands you a negotiating position for the three worst findings — free, before you're bound by any of it.
Know where your contract stands
Clause-by-clause risk report against your state's Security of Payment laws in about 90 seconds.
Scan my subcontract freeCommon questions
Should I get a lawyer to review every subcontract?
For high-value or unusual contracts, yes — and a scan first makes that review faster and cheaper by showing the lawyer where to look. For the routine flow of subcontracts, most subbies sign unread; a free 90-second scan is the difference between that and knowing your five worst clauses.
Can I actually negotiate with a big builder?
More often than subbies assume — especially on caps, notice periods and release triggers, which cost the builder little to concede. You'll win few negotiations you don't start, and a specific, market-referenced ask ('cap LDs at 10%, that's the market position') lands far better than 'these terms are harsh'.
Keep reading
General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice — statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.