Contract review service

In addition to the free legal services available to members, Members Legal now offers comprehensive contract reviews to members for a pre-agreed capped price.

Before signing a contract, it is critical to know what is being agreed, and assess whether the deal is right for you.

Tailored for clarity and precision, Members Legal’s reviews save you time, reduce costly disputes, and strengthen your negotiating position by:

• Explaining the terms of the contract.
• Identifying your rights and entitlements.
• Identifying your risks and obligations.
• Suggesting changes to safeguard your interests.

Designed to empower your decision-making, this service provides a meticulous review of complex construction contracts by a team of legal and industry experts. They will analyse the legal risk, and point a spotlight on hidden liabilities, compliance gaps, and opportunities for you to negotiate more favourable terms.

This will assist your business by:

• Translating legal jargon into plain English to explain the rights and obligations.
• Reducing risk by identifying potential risks with budget, timeframes, responsibilities and quality.
• Improving contract administration to claim entitlements and fulfil obligations.

What is it?

Members Legal’s comprehensive contract review service identifies and assesses critical areas to ensure you know what you are signing up for. We aim to provide you with clarity to enable you to comply, mitigate and manage your risks, and negotiate a better deal.

The key elements covered by the reviews include:

1. Scope of works: Verifying deliverables, timelines, and specifications are clearly defined to avoid disputes over incomplete or ambiguous obligations.
2. Payment terms: Confirming arrangements for claiming payment, payment terms, milestones, retentions, and liquidated damages for delays, to ensure fairness and certainty of cash flow.
3. Changes and variations: Outline the procedures for handling modifications, including approvals, documentation, and cost adjustments.
4. Risk allocation: Scrutiny of indemnity clauses, limitations of liability, releases, insurance obligations, and warranties, to ensure balanced risk-sharing between the parties.
5. Compliance: Confirm adherence to the relevant legislation, WHS regulations, environmental laws, and licensing requirements to avoid penalties and project disruptions.
6. Dispute resolution: Evaluate the mechanisms for dispute resolution, including for mediation, arbitration or litigation to streamline conflict resolution.
7. Termination clauses: Clarify rights for contract termination, penalties, and exit responsibilities to protect against abrupt cancellations.
8. Security: Identify each parties’ obligations to provide security, and their rights to have recourse to, and the release of, the security provided.
9. Force majeure: Assess provisions for unforeseen events and latent conditions, to define entitlements and obligations.
10. Subcontract agreements: Review terms governing the role of subcontractors, and the flow-down of obligations done the contractual chain of responsibility.

By identifying and addressing these areas before you enter a contract, the review identifies ambiguities, compliance gaps, and unfair terms, which empowers you to negotiate with confidence to safeguard your commercial, financial, and legal interests.