Post-Signing Contract Review
Contract review5 working days
Understand the subcontract you have signed: what to do, who must do it and which dates you cannot miss.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
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The problem
You have signed the subcontract but are unsure what its terms require. Payment, notice or retention dates may be unclear, and your site team needs practical instructions it can use without working through the full contract.
Not signed yet? See Pre-Signing Contract Review.
The solution
We read the signed contract and referenced documents, deal with urgent dates first, and turn the terms into an action plan with your job lead.
The signed terms are already in place. We explain their commercial effect; your solicitor handles legal questions.
What you get
You receive a diary of deadlines linked to the contract clauses, with a site checklist and an action plan assigning each task to a named owner. We walk you through the plan, including any legal questions and existing losses that need attention.
Includes a Handover Pack: key dates and sources, next steps, likely responses, scope limits and any ready-to-send letters.
Fee: Fixed fee agreed in writing after we see the signed contract, before work starts.
Need it faster? Ask on the first call: an express turnaround is quoted in writing where the diary allows it.
How it works
You tell us about the job
Start with a free call and flag urgent dates. Send the contract papers; we confirm the fixed fee and review date.
What you get: A written scope, fixed fee and review date
- A
The subcontract as signed
The signed subcontract, with its particulars and every schedule and appendix, as a PDF or scan, with nothing removed.
Where to find it: Your commercial or contracts folder, or the email or portal it was signed through. A phone scan of a signed paper copy is fine.
Why we need it: The review sets out what you actually signed. So it has to be the signed copy, not an earlier version that may have changed before signing.
How we will use it: Every date, duty and flag in the review, the cheatsheet and the diary is taken from it, with where it sits.
- B
The schedule of amendments
The changes to the standard form as they were signed, whether a separate schedule, tracked changes or extra pages of terms. If the subcontract names a standard form and edition, tell us which.
Where to find it: Often a separate attachment to the signed subcontract, or a schedule at the back of it.
Why we need it: The amendments usually decide the dates and the deductions, and the standard form read without them can say the opposite.
How we will use it: We read each amendment into the clause it changes, so our plain-words summary describes the terms as amended.
- C
The documents the subcontract pulls in
Everything the subcontract lists as part of it, in the revisions it names. That means the main contract terms passed down to you, the schedules, the specification, the drawings list and the programme.
Where to find it: The subcontract's list of contract documents names them. Your main contractor's document register or project portal usually holds them.
Why we need it: The main contract terms passed down to you often carry the time bars and the delay damages. They bind you whether or not anyone has read them.
How we will use it: We read each one for the dates and duties it adds, and every one of them goes into the diary and the cheatsheet.
- D
Your tender or quote
The quote as sent, with its date, reference, exclusions and assumptions, and any tender clarifications that followed it.
Where to find it: Your estimator's sent items, or the tender folder for the project.
Why we need it: It shows what you priced and what you excluded. A duty in the subcontract you never allowed for is then flagged now, not found on site.
How we will use it: We read the subcontract's scope and duties against it and mark every difference for your team.
- E
The correspondence about the terms
Emails and letters about the terms, before and since signing, including any notice already given or received on the job. Forward the original messages, with their dates and attachments.
Where to find it: A search of your inbox for your main contractor's contact and the project name usually finds the whole thread.
Why we need it: What was said about a term before signing, and any notice given or missed since, shapes what matters on this job now.
How we will use it: We read it against the subcontract so the review covers the job as it stands. Anything already running, we raise with you at once.
Copies are fine. Send what you have and we will tell you what's missing.
- A
We read what you signed
We read every page, and every document it pulls in. Then we set out in plain words what it commits you to, with the clause behind each point.
What you get: A plain summary of what you have signed up to, clause by clause
We list every date and flag the risky terms
Every date and duty goes in one diary, each traced to its clause. We flag any term that may not work as written, for your solicitor to look at.
What you get: A diary of every date and duty, each traced to its clause
You tell us how the job is run
Whoever runs the job takes one call with us: who gives notices, who applies for payment and how records are kept.
We hand your team an action plan
Every notice, record and date gets a named person, in a cheatsheet for the site. We then walk your team through it on one call.
What you get: An action plan and a site cheatsheet, with a named person for every duty
We hand over the review, the cheatsheet and the diary
Get a free report on your claim
Answer the questions below for a free PDF report by email. Allow about three minutes; choose “Not sure” where needed.
Your report explains where you stand, the next steps to take and the records to gather. It also sets out how we could help for a fixed fee, with no obligation.
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Reviewing another contract before signing? Pre-Signing Contract Review.