Contract Drafting & Negotiation
In the GCC, Africa & UK
Contract Drafting & Negotiation
Much of your legal position is settled before work starts: in the risks you accept, the amendments you agree and the terms you pass down the supply chain. Under pressure to sign, those decisions are often made without anyone deciding to make them.
C&IDS places experienced construction counsel within your business, so that the lawyer drafting and negotiating your contracts already knows your projects, your forms of contract and your appetite for risk. Your lawyer works across the standard and bespoke forms used in construction, including FIDIC, NEC, JCT and IChemE, and across subcontracts, consultancy appointments and joint venture agreements.
For example, a subcontract may be issued on terms that look back-to-back with the main contract. Before it is signed, you need to know whether the notice periods, time bars and payment terms actually align, and where a gap would leave you carrying a risk that you cannot pass on. An early review helps you decide what to accept, what to price and what to negotiate.
Decide the Contracting Strategy First
Contract drafting cannot be separated from procurement strategy. Your lawyer works with you on the procurement method, how risk is allocated and how it will be managed. Getting this right at procurement stage shapes every negotiation that follows, and it is often where the most significant legal and commercial risk is either created or avoided.
Know What You Are Accepting
The costliest terms are rarely the obvious ones. They tend to be the risk allocation clauses accepted without challenge, the subcontract terms passed down without a proper back-to-back review, and the bespoke amendments to a standard form that quietly move risk onto the wrong party. Your lawyer reviews each contract with these pressure points in mind and tells you plainly what they mean for the project.
Carry the Contract Into the Project
The lawyer who negotiated the contract stays with the business once it is signed. Your commercial and project teams can ask what a clause was intended to do, and the notices, records and procedures the contract requires can be put in place from the first day on site.
If you have a contract to draft, review or negotiate, a free Discovery Call is the place to start.
HOW C&IDS CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS
Key Advantages Of Embedded In-House Construction Counsel:
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Fixed monthly fee for the agreed hours, with no markup on rates and no billing surprises
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Embedded experienced construction counsel working alongside your management, commercial and project teams
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Prepared for negotiation, adjudication or arbitration, with one lawyer holding the file from day one
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