SubContractor Agreements – What Australian Businesses Need To Know

What Is a Subcontractor Agreement?

A subcontractor agreement is a written contract between a head contractor (the party that holds the principal engagement with an end client) and a subcontractor engaged by the head contractor to perform part of the contracted work. The agreement allocates scope, payment, risk, intellectual property and liability as between the head contractor and the subcontractor; it does not create any direct contractual relationship between the subcontractor and the end client unless a separate collateral agreement (for example, a deed of novation or a side deed) is put in place.

Subcontractor agreements are most often encountered in the building and construction industry, but are also used in information technology, logistics, professional services, creative services, mining services, and any other sector where work is broken into specialist packages. In the construction industry, subcontracting is regulated by the Security of Payment legislation in each