Building and construction lawyers are your biggest asset. Perhaps it’s a bold statement but will explain why we thing so, at Lazarus Legal.
Are you a developer, builder, subcontractor, consultant, architect, planner, engineer or even a homeowner? A building and construction lawyer can help you navigate through your legal issues and protect you whether it’s at the early planning or post-build stages. But first, let’s have a look at what’s happening in the construction space.
The State of Construction in Australia
Irrespective of any recession or short-term economic cycle we may be in, we are in the midst of a massive construction boom. Close to $5 billion worth of development projects is now taking place in Sydney’s CBD alone. Whilst that is exciting news, it means the construction industry can see a vast number of disputes from different parties including builders, sub-contractors, buyers, developers and residents.
The construction and property development sector are filled with risks and legal landmines by virtue of the complexity of the law, the involvement of various parties, amongst other challenges that can lead to missed budgets or deadlines. To ensure you are protected, you need to be backed by a construction lawyer with multi-disciplinary background and decades of experience.
A lot of the time, understanding what your rights are can be difficult. However, it’s imperative to know what your legal rights are, and have the right people helping you navigate the law and ensuring your rights are protected.
What causes disputes in the construction industry?
As you can imagine, there is a vast range of areas where disputes can arise. Disputes can arise because the construction work was not finished on time as per contractual obligations, underpayment or even non-payment, disputes over the perceived quality of the work, and a lot more. Below are the most common reasons disputes happen.
Contractor related factors
- Inadequate investigation before bidding
- Site management
- Failure to plan & execute the changes of works
- Construction methods
- Mistakes during the construction stage
- Lack of understanding & agreement in a contract document
- Financial or cashflow difficulties
Consultant related factors
- Poor contract management & supervision
- Preparation and approval of drawings
- Frequent changes in orders & designs
- The incompleteness of drawing and specification
- Variations due to design errors
- Waiting time for approval of tests and inspection
Material, labour & equipment related factors
- Quality of material
- Price fluctuation of construction materials
- Changes in government regulations
- Labour productivity or shortage in material
- Equipment availability and failure
Contract & contract relationship related factors
- Change orders
- Mistakes and discrepancies in a contract document
- Inappropriate overall organizational structure linking to the project
- Lack of communication between the parties
- Failure to respond on time
- Unrealistic contract duration and requirements imposed
The impact on your business
Construction projects are often executed within complicated and uncertain circumstances, through which claims, and conflicts become an inevitable by-product.
It’s no wonder that disputes can eat your profits. Construction conflicts affect the interests of many stakeholders; they reduce profits, impact cash flow, and are therefore very expensive.
Working with the construction lawyer from the very beginning of your development endeavour can pay massive dividends down the road. Getting the right legal advice especially at early stages will help you avoid certain avenues or decision that might impact your business and point you in the right direction. Should you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being litigated or need to file a dispute, having the right construction lawyer will be an invaluable asset. A competent lawyer will know how to navigate disputes and use the right approach whether it’s dispute resolution and mediation or escalating the legal matters in court.
What can a Construction Lawyer help you with?
There are many areas where a construction lawyer can be your ultimate line of defence. These include:
- Claims regarding defective and incomplete work
- Claims concerning building contracts and Payment Claims
- Review of your tender documentation and contracts
- Advice on contract management and documentation
- Drafting and interpretation of contracts, contract amendments and special conditions
- Formulation of contractual claims or responses to claims
- Breach of Contract Disputes
- Advice on Development Applications
- Consumer and home building claims, including representation in the Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (NCAT) and the courts
- Building licensing and Home Warranty insurance matters
- Advice on builder insolvency issues
- All building-related litigation
- Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act claims
- Alternative Dispute Resolution processes mediation and conciliation
- Expert determination and arbitration (including representation)
- Debt recovery
- Homeowners warranty insurance claims
- Home Building Act 1989 advice & litigation
Who is Lazarus Legal?
A trusted Construction Lawyer can be the ultimate difference and differentiating factor for your construction or property development business. At Lazarus Legal, we work with a range of clients from small developments clients to large scale, corporate and government clients working on major commercial and residential developments including retail, aged care, recreational, education to name a few. We’ve had the opportunity to consult and help our clients over the years across a wide range of construction and building disputes.
Barry Lazarus
We’d be lying if we told you that this bloke isn’t the big honcho of our team, but his name is a dead give-away. The founder of Lazarus Legal, Barry Lazarus is an old school, tough as nails lawyer. They don’t forge litigators like this anymore. With decades of experience in both Australia and South Africa, his wisdom is as renowned as his name.