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Our Services
Contract Administration for Construction Projects in Melbourne
Progress claims, variations, procurement and correspondence handled on time and in the form the contract requires, for subcontractors and builders across Victoria.
Contract administration in construction is the day-to-day work of running a building contract once it is signed: preparing and assessing progress claims, documenting variations, keeping procurement and correspondence on record, and meeting every notice and timing requirement the contract sets. Sami Strategy Co. provides this service to subcontractors and builders in Melbourne, and remotely across Australia, so claims go in correctly, variations are agreed in writing and nothing is lost between site and office.
Many payment disputes on construction projects start with paperwork: a claim served late, a variation done on a verbal instruction, a notice that was never issued. We read your contract at the start, set up the registers and templates it calls for, then run the cycle for the life of the project.
You keep control of commercial decisions. We prepare, track and chase, and we tell you in plain terms where the contract gives you rights and where it exposes you to risk.
What We Do
What does contract administration in construction involve?
Once a contract is signed, it sets out how money is claimed, how changes are approved and how the parties must communicate with each other. Our role is to run that machinery for you. We handle procurement support, invoicing, progress claims, variations and project coordination, and we keep the document trail that lets you prove what happened if a question arises later.
The work is largely about timing and form. A progress claim is a formal request for payment for work completed to a date, and the contract and Victorian security of payment legislation set when it can be served and how long the other party has to respond. A variation is a change to the scope, time or price of the works that must be instructed and valued under the contract. Retention is money held back from each payment as security for performance and released at stages the contract defines. We make sure each of these is handled in the way the contract requires.
- Procurement support: scopes, quotes and purchase orders for subcontract packages and supply
- Progress claims prepared, checked against the contract breakdown and served on time
- Variations priced, documented and submitted for written approval before the work proceeds where the contract allows
- Invoicing and payment tracking, including retention held and due for release
- Contract correspondence: notices, requests for information and responses within the required timeframes
- Document control: registers for claims, variations, notices and drawings so the current record is always clear
- Project coordination between site, your office, the head contractor or client, and consultants
Who This Is For
Who uses construction contract admin support?
Contract administration suits any party that has signed a construction contract and needs the claims, variations and correspondence under it kept in order.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors carry the risk of late or short payment when claims are informal or variations go in after the fact. We prepare and serve your progress claims, document every variation and chase the responses the contract entitles you to, so your cash flow follows the work you have done.
Learn moreBuilders
Builders and head contractors run contracts on two sides: upstream with the client and downstream with the trades. We help assess incoming subcontractor claims, keep the variation register current, issue notices on time and keep correspondence tidy so your team can stay focused on site.
Learn moreHow It Works
How does a contract administration engagement work?
The engagement follows a set sequence so the contract is understood before the first claim goes out.
Initial meeting
We discuss the project, the contract you have signed and the parts of administration you want handled. This is where we learn how you currently manage claims, variations and correspondence.
Agreement and handover
We sign an agreement to confirm the scope of our work, then collect the executed contract, drawings, specification, program and any correspondence to date.
Contract review and set-up
We read the contract and note the claim dates, response periods, notice requirements, variation procedure and retention terms. We set up claim, variation and correspondence registers around those requirements.
Claim cycle
Each claim period we prepare or assess progress claims, value and submit variations, issue or respond to notices, and update the registers. You review and approve before anything is sent.
Reporting and close-out
You receive a regular summary of amounts claimed, certified and paid, open variations and outstanding notices. At practical completion we assist with the final claim, retention release and the defects period paperwork.
What You Get
What do you receive?
Everything we produce is yours and is filed so an accountant, a lawyer or a new staff member can follow it.
Progress claim package
Each claim is prepared in the form the contract requires, with its supporting breakdown, variation schedule and retention calculation, and served within the timeframe the contract sets.
Variation register
A live register of every variation with the instruction reference, status, claimed value and approved value, so you know at any time what has been agreed and what is still open.
Correspondence and notice log
All formal letters, notices, requests for information and responses, dated and filed against the contract clause they relate to.
Payment and retention tracker
A running record of amounts claimed, certified, paid and withheld, including retention held and the dates it falls due for release.
Scope And Cost
What affects the cost of contract administration?
The effort depends on the contract and on how much of the cycle you want handled. We agree the scope with you before work starts.
- Contract value and duration, which set how many claim cycles there will be
- Whether we administer one side of the contract or both the upstream and downstream contracts
- Number of subcontract packages and suppliers under procurement
- Expected volume of variations and the complexity of pricing them
- Notice and reporting requirements in the contract, and how often the client or head contractor requires updates
- State of the existing records when we take over a project already under way
Why Sami Strategy
Why engage Sami Strategy for contract administration?
Contract review is already part of our work
Our estimating and tendering services include a review of the contract documents for scope gaps and risk. The same reading informs how we administer the contract once it is signed, so claims and variations line up with what was priced.
Melbourne based, Victoria focused
Sami Strategy Co. is run from Melbourne by directors Sandra Seo and Mina Song and works with subcontractors and builders across Victoria. We also consult remotely for clients elsewhere in Australia.
Your interests, in plain language
We act on your instructions under the contract and explain each claim, notice and response in terms you can act on. You make the commercial decisions with the facts in front of you.
Working alongside Sandra on our Eden Home project was a genuinely lovely experience from start to finish. What we appreciated most was her ability to spot potential issues early and work through them calmly, with considered solutions. Her organisation and steady, quiet leadership made a real difference.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is a progress claim in construction?
A progress claim is a formal request for payment for work completed and materials supplied up to a set date under a construction contract. The contract states when claims can be served and what they must include, and Victoria's security of payment legislation also sets timeframes for making claims and for the paying party to respond. Serving a claim late or in the wrong form can delay or reduce payment.
How does progress claims management reduce payment delays?
Progress claims management means preparing each claim to the contract's requirements, serving it on the correct date and tracking the response and payment that follow. It keeps the supporting breakdown consistent from claim to claim so the assessing party can approve it without going back and forth. It also records when a response is late or short, which gives you a clear position if you need to escalate.
What is variation management in construction?
A variation is a change to the scope, quality, timing or price of the contracted works. Variation management is the process of getting the change instructed in writing, pricing it, submitting it for approval and recording its status until it is paid. Documenting the instruction before the work proceeds, where the contract allows, is what makes the variation claimable later.
What does contract compliance mean on a construction project?
Contract compliance means meeting the obligations the contract places on you: serving notices within the stated periods, following the variation procedure, providing insurances and documents when required, and claiming in the agreed form. Many contracts make a right conditional on a notice being issued on time, so compliance protects your entitlement to time and money. We track these requirements in a register so nothing is missed.
What is retention and when is it released?
Retention is a percentage of each progress payment that the paying party holds back as security for the contractor's performance. The contract sets the percentage, any cap, and the stages at which it is released, typically a portion at practical completion and the balance at the end of the defects liability period. We track retention held and the release dates so you can claim it when it falls due.
Can a subcontractor outsource construction contract admin?
Yes. Many subcontractors have the trade skills and site capacity for a project but no one in the office to run the paperwork a head contract demands. An external contract administrator prepares the claims, variations and correspondence under your instruction, and you remain the party to the contract and approve everything that is sent.
Do you administer contracts for builders as well as subcontractors?
Yes. For builders and head contractors we can assess incoming subcontractor claims against the subcontract, maintain the variation register across all trades, prepare the upstream claim to the client and keep notice correspondence in order on both sides. The scope is agreed at the start of the engagement.
Can you take over a project that is already under way?
Yes. We start by collecting the executed contract, all claims and payment records to date, open variations and correspondence, and then reconcile what has been claimed, certified and paid. From there we set up the registers and pick up the next claim cycle.
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