A construction contract is an agreement between an employer (the
property owner or its authorised agent) and a contractor to
construct, repair, modify, renovate or even demolish something in
an agreed time frame, for an agreed price and to agreed /
acceptable standards.
The main agreement is normally signed by both the employer and
the contractor. But, where does the subcontractor feature, in a
legally binding agreement between these two parties? That is often
a very important question to ask and as early on as possible.
The Parties
As a brief outline of the roleplayers in executing a
project:
A contractor is an organisation (or sometimes a person –
aka a builder or a principal-agent such as an engineer or
architect) hired by the employer to carry out the work required for
the completion of a project. Nevertheless, contractors do not
always have the expertise or capacity to complete all construction
work by themselves. For that reason, subcontractors are a
