Find Lawyers in Adelaide, Australia for Construction / Infrastructure Law
Practice Area Overview
Construction and Infrastructure Law in Australia is the specialist practice area servicing all aspects of the Construction industry and construction projects from inception to completion. It encapsulates all the legal issues which arise during the tender, construction, delivery, and operation and maintenance phases of construction and infrastructure projects such as:
- residential and mixed use developments;
- commercial and industrial developments;
- essential hard infrastructure assets such as transport, water and energy facilities; and
- essential soft or social infrastructure assets such as schools, hospitals etc.
Practitioners in this area assist clients at all stages of a project’s life cycle from inception through to commission, subsequent regulatory compliance, and litigation. This includes:
- advice in relation to initial concept design documentation;
- guidance in relation to construction tender documentation;
- drafting construction contracts, consultancy agreements, supply agreements, operation and maintenance agreements, and advising on same (to name but a few);
- advising in relation to Security of Payment legislation; and
- representing clients in construction disputes and litigation, whether that be court litigation, arbitration, or expert determination.
Large scale projects may require the practitioner to provide advice in relation to strategy and structuring, project management, joint ventures, land use, and local planning or zoning issues. Construction and Infrastructure practitioners frequently act for large institutional investors, individual land owners, commercial developers, building contractors, government departments, and infrastructure services entities.
As the Security of Payment framework is highly regulated in all Australian jurisdictions, Construction and Infrastructure lawyers must have a sound knowledge of the area given the particularly severe consequences for clients of non-compliance with the relevant statute. This usually entails advising clients in relation to:
- the proper form and timing for payment claims;
- responding to payment claims;
- drafting Adjudication applications and responding to such applications;
- enforcement of adjudicator’s determinations (recovering payment) and appeals from same.
In addition to their core practice areas, construction and infrastructure lawyers are also regularly called upon to advise in relation to complementary areas of practice. Given Australia’s recent period of sustained investment in residential construction, their practice often crosses into other areas such as planning and environment law, property law, and finance/foreign investment law.
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David’s practice includes all areas of property, infrastructure, and contract law. He has significant experience in the negotiation and documentation of property acquisitions and disposals, and associated due diligence processes. David has significant experience acting for property developers, purchasers, vendors, government agencies, financiers, leading corporates, landlords, and tenants with respect to development projects, sales and purchases, leasing, building contracts, land divisi...
Geoff specialises in construction and engineering matters and regularly advises on the preparation of construction contracts and significant building and construction disputes for a number of large contractors, property owners, and government. He has experience in a wide range of building and construction disputes including claims under security of payment legislation, professional negligence claims against consultants, variation claims, time related claims and claims with respect to defectiv...
Tom is a Principal in the firm’s disputes practice. Tom joined DMAW Lawyers in April 2007 as a senior associate, following previous roles at Clifford Chance in London and Hicksons Lawyers in Sydney where he acted in major litigation matters. Tom specialises in commercial disputes. He has acted in a full spectrum of complex commercial litigation, construction, superannuation, transport and trade matters. Tom's experience includes advising and representing a variety of clients, ranging fr...
As a highly skilled commercial lawyer Tim advises clients on efficient and effective business structures that facilitate access to the capital necessary for growth or acquisition. Capital Structuring extends to business restructuring whether solvent or insolvent and to enable generational business succession or exit. Tim provides pragmatic advice that has seen him develop key client relationships across a range of industries including manufacturing, construction, agri-business, technology, to...
Matthew Hawke is Special Counsel in Cowell Clarke’s Building, Construction & Infrastructure and Dispute Resolution teams. Matthew has broad experience in construction advice and disputes (including construction contract drafting and advice), compulsory acquisition disputes, and the construction industry security of payment regimes across Australia. When not working in the construction space, Matthew supports clients in negotiating or litigating their general contractual, misrepresen...
Michael specialises in corporate and personal insolvency law and is recognised as one of Australia’s leading insolvency lawyers. He acts regularly for banks, financial institutions and other secured lenders providing advice in relation to the security enforcement. He acts for insolvency practitioners in all types of personal and corporate business restructuring and insolvency administrations. Michael is regularly engaged to act for companies and directors providing advice on the restruc...
Tony has more than 25 years' significant experience in commercial transactions, including public and private infrastructure. Tony acts for clients in a range of sectors, including government services, property development, construction and defence. Tony has a particular interest and depth of experience in major projects, joint ventures, and infrastructure and development projects. He has advised clients on many of the major residential and commercial developments in South Australia. Tony is a...
Shannon Schwarz is an experienced construction lawyer with a practice focused on building, infrastructure, engineering and other major projects. He has acted for principals, developers, head contractors, subcontractors, engineers, consultants, architects, government departments, manufacturers and suppliers. Shannon provides advice to clients in relation to contract preparation, negotiation and management, including procurement processes and risk management strategies. Shannon also regularly a...
Juniper has taken a lead role in advising on significant construction, infrastructure, resources and defence projects throughout Australia. Juniper is experienced in amending and negotiating various industry standard contracts as well as preparing bespoke terms. She assists clients to manage their risks throughout the life of their projects from the tender and delivery model through to contract management and delivery. She provides clear advice quickly, alive to commercial consequences and pr...
Jamie Watts is the leader of Cowell Clarke’s Building, Construction and Infrastructure team, bringing nearly 30 years of experience to his market leading guidance and advice. With expertise ranging from the drafting of contracts to the settlement of disputes, Jamie’s understanding of the whole construction cycle allows him to identify and minimise risk from procurement to completion. Although the avoidance of future claims and disputes is Jamie’s primary goal, he has signifi...
Josh is an experienced litigator in our Transaction Disputes team. With experience in complex commercial and construction litigation, Josh has a strong technical skill set which is complemented by a commercial and practical approach when assisting clients with their disputes. Josh is a staunch advocate and has acted for a variety of clients throughout Australia, from Magistrates Court to Supreme and Federal Court matters. He has comprehensive experience in significant Security of Payment adju...
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