How we work

From documents to a position

What happens once you get in touch, in the order it happens: what to send, how costs are set out in writing before anything starts, and how you are kept informed.

General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.

Last updated: 23 September 2026

Most people who contact us are already part way through something. The work has stopped, or a payment claim has arrived, or a letter has come from a solicitor. This page sets out what an engagement involves, so you know what you are agreeing to before you agree to it.

Sydney Building Lawyers is an informational website about building and construction law in New South Wales. Much of what follows is set by the Legal Profession Uniform Law and by the conduct rules for solicitors in New South Wales, which apply to any law practice acting for you.

The first conversation

We start with where the project stands: what was contracted for, what has happened, what each side has written to the other, and whether any date is running against you.

Say at the outset if a date is close. In building matters that usually means one of three things — a payment claim or payment schedule has been served, a statutory warranty period is near its end, or there is a date in NCAT or a court. Each of those changes what has to happen this week rather than next month.

You do not need your documents organised. Send what you have, in whatever state it is in.

The contract, with the plans, specifications and any exclusions list
The date the work was completed, or the date it was due to be
Any payment claim, payment schedule or adjudication document, with the date it arrived
The correspondence, in the order it was sent
Any expert or inspection report, and anything from Building Commission NSW
The next date in the matter, if proceedings have already started

If a deadline is close, say so when you first make contact rather than waiting for an appointment. See Security of Payment and statutory warranties.

The conflict check

Before a law practice can act for you it has to check whether it is able to. It cannot act where its duty to you would conflict with a duty owed to another client or with its own interests. In construction that comes up more often than people expect, because the same project can involve an owner, a head contractor, several subcontractors, a certifier and a developer, and a practice may already act for one of them.

So expect to be asked who else is involved — every company and every person, not just the one you are arguing with — and to be asked early. Usually nothing turns on it. Where a conflict does exist you should be told, and told what the options are. What you say during that check is confidential whether or not you go on to engage the practice.

This is also the reason not to send a full set of documents with a first enquiry. A short summary is enough to run the check.

Costs, in writing, before work starts

Under the Legal Profession Uniform Law a law practice must tell you in writing, at the outset, how its legal costs will be calculated and what it estimates the total will be. That disclosure has to set out your rights as well. A costs agreement is a separate document, and you do not have to sign one the day it is put in front of you.

We do not publish fees on this website. What a building matter costs depends on the contract, the size of the claim, whether expert evidence is needed and how hard the other side fights, so a figure published here would tell you nothing reliable about your own matter. Ask, and it comes to you in writing.

A position, in writing

The first substantive piece of work in most building matters is an advice that sets out where you actually stand. That means what the contract requires, what the legislation adds, what has already been done well or badly, and what the realistic options are.

Each option comes with what it is likely to cost and what it risks. An adjudication, a Building Commission NSW complaint, an NCAT application and a negotiated settlement are very different things in money, speed and finality, and the right one depends on facts rather than on preference.

We will also tell you when a matter is not worth running. That is part of the advice, not a failure of it.

Expert evidence, and when to commission it

Where a defect or delay question is technical, it is decided on evidence about the work: what the defect is or where the time went, what caused it, and what should have happened. Photographs and correspondence are evidence, and a technical question may need an expert report as well. At NCAT, expert evidence is governed by Procedural Direction 3, and the directions in a matter decide what is required.

Commissioning a report too early wastes money, because the report is often addressed to the wrong questions and has to be done again. Commissioning it too late costs time you may not have. We advise on when, on what the report has to address to be useful, and on what sort of expert is needed for the particular problem.

An expert’s duty in proceedings is to the tribunal or the court, not to the party paying for the report. A report written as an advocate’s document is worth less than one written properly, and it can damage the case it was meant to support.

Keep your own evidence as you go: dated photographs, messages, site notes. It costs nothing and it is often better than anything produced later.

Documents and confidentiality

Ask where to send documents and in what form before you send anything. Clear scans or photographs of every page are usually enough to start. Do not send originals unless you are asked for them.

Building files get large quickly. Sending everything in one unsorted batch is usually slower than sending the contract, the key correspondence and the dates first, and the rest afterwards when we know what matters.

Your material is held by the law practice under Australian privacy law and the solicitor’s duty of confidentiality. Our privacy policy explains what is collected and how it is handled.

How we keep you informed

A solicitor’s duty is to keep you informed about the progress of your matter, in writing where that is practical. So expect to be told what has been served, when, what the next step is and what the other side has said. If you have not heard for a while, ask. A progress report needs no reason.

We do not publish timeframes for how long a matter takes. It depends on the list, the evidence, the number of parties and how hard the matter is fought, and a figure on a website would be a guess dressed up as information.

What we will not do

Three things, whatever is asked.

Guarantee an outcome. A tribunal or a court decides the matter. Anyone who promises you a result is telling you something they cannot know.
Keep a poor prospect to ourselves. A solicitor's duty is to advise you on your options and on the best course open to you. That includes saying when a claim has little prospect, or when the likely recovery does not justify the cost, and giving the reasons. You may still decide to proceed. What matters is that the decision is yours and informed.
Help you put something untrue in a document. Not a date on a variation, not a signature, not an account of what was agreed on site. Documents in a building dispute become evidence, and a false one does far more damage than the problem it was meant to hide.

If there is something awkward in the history of the job, say so at the start. It is almost always a stronger position than hoping nobody notices.

If you are not happy

Tell us first. Most problems are about what was expected rather than what was done, and they are easier to fix early. Our complaints page sets out how to raise one. A complaint about a solicitor, or a dispute about a bill, can also go to the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner, which is independent of any law practice.