Helping subcontractors manage their builder's contract and get paid on time

We help subcontractors working with commercial builders negotiate better contract terms, manage contract risk and get paid on time.

EXPLORE THE SUBBIES TOOLBOX MEMBERSHIP

LIVE WEBINAR FOR COMMERCIAL SUBCONTRACTORS

10 Changes to Make to Your Builders Contract

📅 Thurs 26 Feb | ⏰ 10 AM AEST | 💻 Live on Zoom

If you’re working for Tier 1 and Tier 2 builders, you’ve seen it plenty of times.
Most departure schedules get knocked back, and you’re left deciding whether to sign anyway or risk the job.

This webinar will show you what’s actually worth pushing for and how to do it without damaging your chances of winning work.

This 60-minute live session is for commercial subcontractors who:

✔️ Contract with Tier 1 and Tier 2 builders

✔️ Are tired of blanket rejections on departures

✔️ Want to protect margin and cashflow without burning bridges

✔️ Need a more strategic approach to contract mark-ups

✔️ Want to protect their business without scaring off the work

🎁 BONUS: Stay to the end and get my Post-Tender Interview Playbook + Checklist. A step-by-step guide to help you nail the meeting where deals are made.

No replay. Live only. Save your seat now.

Support for subcontractors working with tier 1–2 commercial builders

Whether you need help understanding your contract, protecting your payment rights or negotiating better contract terms in the first place - we’ve got practical options to suit your needs.

Practical Toolkits Templates & Checklists

A dip-your-toe alternative to the Subbies' Toolbox Membership, our toolkits allow you to purchase in downloadable, writeable format, bite-sized bundles of problem specific resources from our Subbies' Toolbox.

Subcontract Admin Toolkit – All the key notice templates and registers subbies need under a builder’s contract, including EOTs, delay costs, variations and more.
Subcontract Review Toolkit – The same checklists and departure schedule templates we use to help clients review and negotiate contracts properly (before they sign).

Coming soon:

Security of Payment Toolkit;
Quality and Defect Management Toolkit.

FIND OUT MORE

The Subbies' Toolbox Membership

The Subbies Toolbox is a contract management and Security of Payment system for subbies working with commercial builders.

This membership delivers weekly Q&A support, monthly masterclasses and subbie specific templates, SOPs and training resources.

Designed for the subcontractor who wants to upskill talented administration staff into a builder savvy contract administrator role, or a conscientious accounts receivable team who need more support in the moment to respond to the builder's next baseless reason for non-payment.

The Subbies' Toolbox is a safe and moderated environment where subcontractors gain commercial street smarts amongst a values aligned community of other subcontractors, who use our tools and resources to manage their builder's contracts and get paid on time.

EXPLORE THE MEMBERSHIP

Negotiation School

(Self-Paced Course)

Negotiation School is tailored specifically for construction subcontractors constantly being told "no" or having their contract departures rejected.

This self-paced course takes subcontractors through the four most common negotiation scenarios that play out during a construction project: contract negotiation, variations and extensions of time, back charges and the pistols at dawn dispute.

Negotiation School alumni leave the course with a much needed dose dose of commercial street smarts and 32 proven negotiation strategies to use in construction specific contexts.

Learn at your own pace with practical tools and real strategies that actually work on site.

COURSE OUTLINE

Subbies We Support

Our industry is a special kind of brutal - like no other.

We provide commercial support unique to the needs of the Aussie subcontractor.

We get it!

You’re spending bulk time and money for work, and you can't blacklist every builder with a big scary contract.

Unfortunately, it is our lot in life that the deals we do and the contracts we sign are riddled with risk and blue collar baggage that most other industries avoid.

Let's face it, if you were a florist and your customer told you they would pay you for their services "in due course" after you submit your invoice using special software and provide a Statutory Declaration, you would laugh them out the door.

But here we are.

Subcontractors are forced to pay to play, with rules to the game that are designed to keep you under control.

But there is a way you can do business in construction without putting your livelihood on the line. The key is to use a systematic approach to managing your contracts, your risk and your cashflow - and a good bloke narrative to keep the apples in their cart.

If you are a commercial subcontractor who is:

tired of hearing "rejected - clause to remain" and "our contract terms are not up for discussion";
unsure how to move forward without blacklisting every builder;
constantly having your payment claims reduced, backcharged or paid late; or
working for free becuase you're too scared to rock the boat...

The Subbies' Toolbox Membership was made for you!

Before we work together, there’s something you should know.

I’m Michelle Cirson, I'm a construction lawyer, adjudicator and founder of the Subbies' Toolbox. But before all that, I was a Contracts Administrator working for Tier 2 builders who were in financial distress.

This means I lived and breathed the decisions builders make when they can't pay their bills, and what strategies they use when trying to "trade-out" of insolvency.

I'm not afraid to admit - at times I was the hired gun used to short pay subbies and run rings around them in adjudication to avoid a decision against the builder.

These are the experiences that shaped my impression of the construction industry and ultimately led to the commercial street smarts I now use to help subcontractors manage their builder's contracts and get paid on time.

These days I exclusively work with subcontractors, and over the past 10 years I’ve reviewed thousands of builder's contracts from builders engaging subcontractors all over Australia.

In an industry where contracts are designed to automate in the builder's favour and push liability down to subcontractors, I could see the key to subcontractors lowering this risk is a systematic approach coupled with a decent dose of commercial street smarts.

My answer to helping subcontractors reduce the risk of liquidated damages, builder insolvency and in recent years, nothing short of hostile takeover - is the Subbies' Toolbox.

If you would like to be part of a values aligned community of commercial subcontractors who use our system to manage their builder's contracts and get paid on time - book a 1:1 with me and I'll take you on a guided tour.

Book a 1:1 With Michelle

Gut telling you this builder’s job is going sideways?

You’re probably right.. and if you wait too long, your payments could get caught in the fallout. Whether it’s debt recovery, contract advice or a messy variation, early support makes a big difference.

Book a one-on-one scoping call and let’s talk it through.

Book a Consultation

Whether you’re chasing payments, reviewing contracts or just want to stop flying blind, we’ve got tools and support that make a real difference.

We understand how fast a job can turn when contracts aren’t clear, paperwork slips, or builders shift the goalposts.

We don’t talk down to you and we don’t talk in circles.

We show you how to run things properly, protect your margins and feel confident calling the shots.

EXPLORE THE SUBBIES' TOOLBOX MEMBERSHIP HERE