Put the design-build deal in writing

Problems often start when the contract blurs the line between design responsibility and construction responsibility. If it is unclear who is responsible for plans, approvals, errors, changes or coordination, arguments can arise once the project is underway. Payment timing and variation pricing are also common pressure points. A well-structured design and construct agreement helps record those commercial positions early. This service deals with the contract itself, rather than acting as project manager or handling the full job after signing.

It will usually cover the project scope, design obligations, build obligations, pricing, payment stages, programme or timing expectations, variations, delay issues, warranties, defect handling, liability allocation and termination rights. Depending on the project, it may also need practical wording around site access, subcontracting, supplied information and health and safety responsibilities. The exact drafting depends on who is engaging whom and whether the same party is carrying both design and construction risk under the deal.

Useful details include the parties involved, the project structure, whether design is fully developed or still evolving, how pricing will work, and who is responsible for consultants, approvals and subcontractors. We also need to understand how changes will be instructed and paid for, because variation wording is often critical in design and construct jobs. If you already have a draft, tender document or heads of agreement, we can use that as a starting point for the legal drafting or review.

Template wording often needs adjustment so it matches the actual transaction, workflow and risk allocation. However, design and construct projects often involve risk allocation that generic wording handles poorly. A template may not properly address who owns design assumptions, what happens if design changes affect price or timing, or how responsibility is split when multiple parties contribute information. Tailored drafting is usually more useful where the project has bespoke scope, staged works or non-standard payment arrangements. The aim is to get the contract aligned with the actual deal, not just the document title.

Timing depends on the complexity of the project and the quality of the information provided. Once engaged, we review your instructions and any existing project documents, then prepare or review the agreement and raise any key issues that need decisions. If there are commercial points still being negotiated, that can affect turnaround because the drafting needs to match the agreed position. The fixed-fee covers the contract work described on this page. Ongoing negotiations, project administration and post-signing representation can be arranged separately if needed.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Design And Construct Agreement service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.