What your preconstruction agreement needs to say
Preconstruction is the phase where a builder does real work — budgets, constructability review, schedule, trade pricing — before there is a construction contract to be paid under. This is the checklist of terms that decides whether that work is paid for and whether the estimate you produce binds you. Thirty items across scope, fee, deliverables, design responsibility and conversion, with a column for who confirms each one.
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Three steps to a working document
Work it before you draft, not after
Take the checklist to the conversation with the client. The items that get a 'no' or a 'to confirm' are the ones worth negotiating while nobody is invested yet.
Settle the fee credit question early
Whether the preconstruction fee is credited against the construction contract if the job proceeds is the single term clients most often assume one way and builders the other. Decide it in writing.
Hand the marked-up list to your lawyer
A checklist with decisions already made is a far cheaper instruction to a lawyer than a blank page, and it stops terms being dropped because nobody raised them.
This is a checklist of terms commonly addressed in a preconstruction agreement. It is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a contract. What is enforceable — and whether construction payment and lien legislation reaches preconstruction services at all — differs by province and state. Have the agreement drafted or reviewed by a lawyer qualified where the project is located before either party signs.
When the spreadsheet stops scaling
The estimate you build during preconstruction becomes the schedule of values you bill against — in BuildersBridge it carries straight into the construction contract instead of being rebuilt.
See how it works in BuildersBridgeCommon questions
What is a preconstruction agreement?
A contract covering the work a builder does before the construction contract exists — budgeting, estimating, constructability review, value engineering, scheduling and trade pricing. It exists so that phase is scoped and paid for rather than done for free in the hope of winning the build.
Is the preconstruction fee credited against the construction contract?
Sometimes, and it is one of the most common sources of disagreement. Some agreements credit the whole fee if the project proceeds, some credit part of it, and some treat it as separate. The only wrong answer is leaving it unstated.
Does the estimate produced during preconstruction bind the builder?
That depends entirely on what the agreement says the estimate is. A concept estimate priced against schematic drawings is not the same commitment as a guaranteed maximum price, and the agreement should state which one is being delivered and the accuracy range it carries.
Do I still need a lawyer if I use this?
Yes. This tells you what to decide; it does not tell you what is enforceable where your project is. Construction payment and lien legislation is provincial in Canada and state-level in the United States, and it does not treat preconstruction services identically everywhere.