A strategy grounded in the project
Construction disputes are rarely resolved by reading one clause in isolation. The contract, drawings, programme, payment history, notices, site records and commercial objective all shape the available position.
Pezikian Legal can help clients identify the issues that matter, preserve the evidence and choose a proportionate strategy before the dispute consumes the project or the relationship.
Disputes we can assist with
- Payment claims, payment schedules and unpaid invoices
- Variations, scope and valuation disputes
- Delay, disruption and extension-of-time claims
- Liquidated damages and completion disputes
- Defective or incomplete work
- Design responsibility and consultant claims
- Suspension and termination
- Licence, insurance and regulatory issues
- Residential, strata and commercial construction disputes
Early steps
The first review should identify contractual notice requirements, statutory deadlines, limitation periods, insurance-notification obligations and steps that could preserve the client’s rights.
A clear chronology and claim matrix can separate agreed facts from disputed facts and link each issue to the contract and evidence. This often improves the quality of negotiations and any later adjudication, tribunal or court case.
Resolution pathways
Depending on the dispute, the pathway may involve project-level negotiation, formal correspondence, expert determination, mediation, security of payment adjudication, NSW Fair Trading, NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, arbitration or court litigation.
Residential home building disputes generally need to be referred to NSW Fair Trading before NCAT will accept an application. Commercial claims may require a different forum. The choice should account for urgency, amount, remedies, enforceability, cost and the need to keep work moving.
How Pezikian Legal can assist
- Initial merits, contract and forum assessment
- Notices, claims, responses and pre-action correspondence
- Without-prejudice negotiation and mediation
- Security of payment claims and adjudication
- NSW Fair Trading and NCAT home building matters
- Court proceedings, interlocutory applications and enforcement
- Coordination with technical experts, quantity surveyors and counsel
What to bring to the first review
Provide the signed contract and annexures, relevant drawings and specifications, all notices and claims, programme records, site diaries, photographs, expert reports, invoices and a chronology of key events. If a deadline is approaching, identify the document received, when and how it was served.