Delay has a consequence for both sides
Why — act while you have leverage
Agreements commonly price your late payment and say nothing about their late delivery. A one-way clause is not a timeline, it is a penalty.
What to look at
- A completion date, as a date
- Liquidated damages with a rate and a cap
- Both sides carrying a consequence, not just you
- What counts as an excusable delay
How to check it yourself
Find the completion date and what happens if it is missed. Liquidated damages should be stated as a rate per week or month, with a cap. Compare it with the interest you pay on a late instalment. If only one of the two exists, ask for the other.
Where this comes from: Kolo review of Kerala construction quotations and agreements (established trade practice)
More construction agreement checks before you sign
- Agreement check passed
- Contractor background verified
- Site handover checklist agreed
- Worker-welfare rules applicability checked
- GST treatment understood before signing
- The payment schedule keeps money back until the end
- The agreement does not contradict itself
- GST is stated, and you know who pays it
- You know who you are contracting with
- Price escalation has a limit you can calculate
- Foundation extras cannot be open-ended
- Curing is the contractor's job, in writing
- The arbitrator is not chosen by the contractor alone
- There is a warranty, and it has a length
- Worker safety stays with the contractor
- Signing for a stage does not sign away everything after it
- There is a way to settle a dispute short of court
- Cancellation terms are not written by one side
- Nobody else builds your house without you knowing
- No blank spaces, no missing dates
- Money goes to the company, not to a person
- You can ask where the money went
- The quotation is attached to the agreement
- Force majeure is not a blanket excuse
The whole stage: Construction agreement checks before you sign