Contractors and Advocates – Part 1: Why Contractors Need Legal Expertise Throughout a Construction Project

Theme: Business Framework; Module: Contractors Strategy

Author: Dr. Pradeep Reddy Sarvareddy

Published Date: 23 Jan 2026

Note:  This Article is a part of a 3-part series on the attitude and perception and interactions between Contractors and Advocates.  The content is illustrative and based on general professional experiences, not on any specific individual or case.  It is not to criticise or stereotype any profession.  No offence is intended.  In today’s world where everything is taken seriously, read this jovially. 

Government Infrastructure projects require a combined understanding of engineering, finance and law.  In addition, one has to understand the business reality and complex government process.  If the Contract provisions are simplified or the legal impact of the Contractor actions or conduct are clarified, the Contractor could make better decisions.  Let us see how a techno-legal perspective can manage this legal maze from tendering to termination stage.

Government contracting is not just engineering and finance, but there is another professional inbuilt inside it, i.e., an Advocate.  Some Contracts or probably more than some, end up in legal battles for some reason or the other.  Every mistake, whether made by the Contractor or the Department or someone else, could negatively affect the Contractors.  The entire life cycle of a Contract is shown in five categories with one legal example in each Category, as follows:

  1. Tendering

If a contractor does not raise pre‑bid queries, it is very likely that the assumption is made that the Contractor has accepted every risk in the tender, even risks that are not under the Contractor’s control.  This assumption will be apparent only when there is a legal issue, and the law says that the Contractor did not raise any issues at the pre-bid queries.  This situation could shut the doors for several claims at a later stage.

  1. Handling the Government Department

If a contractor does not send written notices as and when a situation arises, the Contractor could lose his Claims.  The Claims are possibly genuine but, the perception is that after the Contract is over, the Contractor became greedy and is now making frivolous Claims.  So, timely notices are a must.  You don’t need to be harsh or litigious, but write politely and state your problem.  Perhaps instead of a dispute, the Department could itself assist you as per the Contract.

  1. Project Management

Project Management is not just managing your resources, but also documentation.  You need to have written documents, photos or videos of all the work you did including quantity, quality, dates, and all the other details that you know, but think are not required to be written down.  Without documents, proving your work done itself becomes difficult or sometimes impossible.

  1. Other Departments

Sometimes, various departments like Forest, Railways, Utilities or Local Bodies are involved in some aspects that could affect your project approvals or progress.  If you don’t follow-up with such departments and document your follow-up by letters or applications, the law could likely consider that you are at fault for the delays.

  1. Money & Money

Contractors focus on Money.  But you need to spend Money to earn Money.  Stating that you don’t have money to continue the work or that your Bills are stuck and therefore you don’t have money are practical problems.  But in most cases, these are not recognised by law as proper legal grounds, and you could be terminated from the project.

In all five categories, legal issues arise even when the contractor is technically correct.  So, what to do?  The answer is not one profession but multi-fold.  You need Engineers to build the Project, Financial Experts to run the project and Advocates to meander through the legal maze. 

A very old and wise saying is that: For a person to be successful in business, he needs the following three persons in his life: Financial Expert, Legal Expert and a Senior in his business as a Mentor.  Think about it, all your problems can be categorised as: Money, Legal and Knowledge.

Develop a great team.  Prepare for the Worst and Hope for the best.