You can ask where the money went
Why — act while you have leverage
Clauses barring the owner from "interfering in financial matters" sit oddly in an agreement funded entirely by the owner, and they block the questions that catch a problem early.
What to look at
- Your right to inspect bills and invoices, stated
- Your right to bring your own engineer or architect to site
- Any clause discouraging independent professional advice
How to check it yourself
Look for any clause limiting your right to see accounts, question a bill, or bring your own engineer or architect to site. On a cost-plus or project-management arrangement you should have a right to see supplier invoices. Being discouraged from engaging your own professional is itself worth noticing.
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
- Delay has a consequence for both sides
- The quotation is attached to the agreement
- Force majeure is not a blanket excuse
The whole stage: Construction agreement checks before you sign