Contracts & Disputes

How extension-of-time and liquidated-damages clauses work — the EOT triggers and notice bars (20 working days / 28 days), LD enforceability after Andrews and Paciocco, and how the prevention principle can set time at large and wipe LDs out.

What a compliant residential contract needs, quote vs estimate, the ACL consumer guarantees you cannot exclude, and the 2023 unfair-contract-terms reforms that turn dodgy boilerplate into a six-figure penalty risk — even for a one-man band.

Mandatory residential contract content, deposit caps and cooling-off by state — NSW 10%, VIC 10/5%, QLD 20/10/5%, SA $1,000-or-5%, and WA's key exception (no statutory cooling-off). Plain-English for builders.

The four building contract types and what each risks, the HIA/MBA/AS 4000/AS 4902 standard forms, and the AS 4000 traps for subbies on back-to-back terms — variations give money not time, and the 28-day EOT bar.

Why an unapproved variation is the hardest thing to get paid for — oral vs written variations, what AS 4000 and HIA/MBA require, the prevention principle that shields you on delay, and the records and workflow that make a claim stick.

The defect safety nets that cannot be excluded — statutory warranty periods by state (NSW/ACT/TAS 6+2, QLD 6+1, VIC up to 10 years), the implied warranties, how ACL guarantees override conflicting clauses, who pays to rectify, and VIC's DBDRV step.

How the state building tribunals work — the regulator/conciliation pre-step (Fair Trading, DBDRV, QBCC), the money limits (NCAT $500k, QCAT no domestic limit, VCAT uncapped), response deadlines, and what they can order.

How a building defect complaint works — the ACL guarantees, minor vs major remedies (repair vs refund/compensation), giving yourself the chance to fix, the QBCC/VBA/Fair Trading rectification powers, and why you can't charge to fix your own defective work.

Where a builder stands on deposits and scope creep — the verified deposit caps by state, when you can keep a deposit (prove the costs), how tribunals treat undocumented extras (quantum meruit), and the clauses that get struck down.

How to handle a customer complaint before it becomes a tribunal case — the 5-stage process, the ACL minor-vs-major remedy split (and the delay trap), responding to negative reviews without defaming anyone, and when to fix free vs stand firm.

Becoming a head contractor when you put a subbie on — what the subbie agreement must cover, the sham-contracting risk from the engaging side, your non-delegable PCBU safety duty, and the SOP cash-flow trap that sinks first-timers.

How to manage customer expectations and avoid disputes — the five things clear expectations cover, drawing the scope line, "no surprises" updates, treating every change as a written mini-agreement, realistic timelines, and spotting drift before it becomes an argument. With scripts.

How tradies handle aggressive or abusive customers safely — the three bands of behaviour, de-escalation, setting one clear boundary, resisting scope-creep pressure, when and how to walk off a job, lone-worker safety, and looking after yourself afterwards. Guidance only.

The records that win construction disputes — contemporaneous site diaries, properly shot and linked photos, as-built drawings, and variation and defect logs that all reference each other — and how to keep them adjudication-ready for a Security of Payment claim. Guidance only.