If you are an Aussie Subcontractor and your builder needs you to start work on site without a written contract squared away, there are a handful of (arguably) innocent reasons this is happening.  

When I say innocent, what I mean is that the builder probably isn’t being predatory when he asked you this favour. More commonly, there are procedural or organisational hurdles internally for the builder that should be cause for you to proceed with caution. 

Here’s what they are: 

1. The design is likely to change, he knows it, and he doesn’t want to lock you into a scope of work before he ‘all in’ commits to giving you the job.

After all, if he signs the contract with you then you’re not going to price the changes keenly are you? He’s worried you’ll think its open slather, and he’s trying to delay giving you the leverage.  

But all is fair in love and war, and if we are really honest with ourselves, he should delay the commencement of the project if he’s that worried about price fluctu...

I'm about to ask you a one simple question that will change the way you interact with your builder indefinitely.

The answer to this question is the reason that your relationship with your builder can never make you invincible from the risk of doing business with him.

You already know why you think you need to have a relationship with your builder and/or his staff. You guys tell me every single day that you think you need a relationship in order to win work.

Here's the kicker, the fact that you need that relationship, is exactly the reason the builder doesn't need one at all.

Put it this way, if you're relying on relationships to win work, there are so many of your competitors out there that your builder can pick and choose.

So if the builder doesn't need your relationship, why would he want one?

As an ex builder's CA who is guilty of leveraging the R word back in the day, I'll tell you exactly why...

Your builder wants (not needs) an ongoing relationship with you, so that he can...

5 reasons you are statistically less likely to be paid in full (or at all) if you delay chasing payment 

Nobody in their right mind likes calling a client about an overdue invoice. But there is a bizarre phenomenon that I’ve witnessed in even the smartest of folk, where they get awkward and strange about having the “my money is late” conversation. 

Look, I’m not immune to this. Even I (the fearless debt recovery consultant) have been known to put off calling clients about my overdue invoices because I did not want to have the uncomfortable conversation. 

Thankfully, I learn fast, and I only let this happen a handful of times before I got my ovaries out of my handbag and separated my feelings from my business. 

You see, if I can’t walk the talk, how can I expect you lot to trust me to take a run at your money?  

In all my years of doing this work, I’ve observed a lot of humans who haven’t been paid, and I can tell you with certainty that the longer you take to chase your money, the...

I’m sure this post will win me some enemies, but here goes.

The reason you can’t expect your builder to pay you on time EVERY time, in full, is because nobody in business, can expect to get paid on time EVERY time, in full.

It just isn’t a commercial reality.

And I’m not just talking about the construction industry here – unless you have a product that people pay for in advance (say for example, donuts) then there is a very real possibility that you won’t get paid on time, every single time, in full.

When I was about 10 years old my Dad took us on a holiday to North Queensland. It was the longest trip I’d ever been on by car. In some tiny country town along the way, while Dad was filling our tank with fuel, my Mum went inside to order coffees. Dad assumed my Mum paid for the fuel and vice versa. It wasn’t until we were 50km further down the road that my parents discovered that neither of them had paid.

Dad did the craziest U-turn on the Bruce Highway and we went back to pay before...

Is your builder asking you to wait to claim your retention until he gets his retention  under the Head Contract? 

Careful...this could be a neat little trap to trick you into waiting SO long to claim your retention, that you are time barred under security of payment legislation to make a claim and enforce it.

If your builder tells you he wants to extend the defects liability period, it is best to first check the provisions of the contract to make sure that he has a right to extend it at all.

If the contract doesn't have any provision that allows for an extension of the defects liability period, or if the defects liability period has already expired, seek advice before making an agreement with the builder.

Failure to claim within the time allowed under the security of payment legislation in your state could mean you are time-barred from using adjudication to recover unpaid retentions.