Pre-Signing Contract Review
Contract review5 working days
Know the risks before you sign. We review your subcontract, draft changes and help you price the risks you keep.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Get a free report on your claim. About three minutes; no obligation.
The problem
You have a subcontract to sign and need to understand what could cost you. Its terms may differ from your quotation or refer to documents you have not received, leaving you unsure which amendments to take into negotiations.
Already signed? See Post-Signing Contract Review. Starting under a letter of intent? See Letter of Intent Loss Prevention.
The solution
We compare the whole contract with your quotation, explain the commercial risks and draft your proposed changes. You decide what to negotiate, price in or accept.
We check the final version before you sign. Legal questions go to your solicitor.
What you get
You receive a risk review with proposed amendments and pricing allowances, followed by a negotiation note to send in your name. We check the final version and provide a one-page summary of your dates and duties.
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 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 subcontract
Start with a free call and send the contract papers. We confirm the fixed fee and review date before you decide.
What you get: A written scope, fixed fee and review date
- A
The subcontract as offered
The subcontract exactly as it was sent to you, with its particulars and every schedule and appendix, as PDFs, with nothing removed.
Where to find it: Usually attached to an email from your main contractor's commercial or procurement team, or in its procurement portal under the project.
Why we need it: The review is a clause by clause read of the whole document, and a partial copy means a partial review.
How we will use it: It is the document every finding, rating and amendment is written against.
- B
The schedule of amendments
The changes to the standard form as issued, 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 same email, or a schedule at the back of the subcontract.
Why we need it: The terms that cost subcontractors most are usually in the amendments, not the standard form. Read without them, a standard form says little about your deal.
How we will use it: We read each amendment into the clause it changes and rate it on its own.
- 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 tender portal usually holds them.
Why we need it: A subcontract can bind you to terms in documents you have never seen. The time bars and delay damages often sit in the main contract terms passed down to you.
How we will use it: We read each one for the duties and risks it adds, and check the revisions named are the ones you priced.
- 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: A subcontract that narrows your exclusions or widens your scope moves money onto you without any one clause looking unusual.
How we will use it: We read the subcontract's scope and price basis against it, and set the list of what to price in from it.
- E
The correspondence about the terms
Any emails or letters since your quote about the terms, the programme or the price. 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 agreed in discussion is not always what the written terms say. A point your main contractor has already given up in writing is worth holding it to.
How we will use it: We read it against the subcontract, so the amendments ask for what was agreed and the negotiation note can point to it.
Copies are fine. Send what you have and we will tell you what's missing.
- A
We find the clauses that could cost you
We read every page, and every document it pulls in, against your quote. We rate each risky clause by what it could cost you, and mark legal questions for your solicitor.
What you get: A list of the risky clauses, each rated by what it could cost you
You choose what to push back on
We talk you through the ratings on one call. For each clause, you decide whether to ask for a change, price it in or accept it.
We write the changes to ask for
We write each change with its reason and its cost to you, and a short note in your name. For every clause that stays, we show what to allow for in your price.
What you get: The changes to ask for, a note in your name and a list of what to price in
You decide whether to sign
The changes go from you, in your name. We check the reply and the final version against what was agreed. If you sign, your team gets one page of dates and duties.
What you get: A check of the final version, with every change you did not agree marked
We hand over the review file and the summary
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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Already signed? Post-Signing Contract Review.