MASAR BuildShield
Protect construction from contract to final account.
Smart settlement where the project cannot stop
Construction parties can disagree over significant amounts and still need each other on site the next morning. Dispute does not always require suspension of the relationship.
- Agree what can be resolved immediately.
- Ring-fence disputed matters while work continues.
- Release undisputed amounts where appropriate.
- Agree temporary rules for remaining execution.
- Reserve rights on deferred issues.
- Set a timetable and method for final resolution.
The objective is neither to use litigation as a substitute for project management nor to let continued performance erase legal rights.
Practical scenarios
- 01
Late design approval creates a time and cost claim
We reconstruct timing, affected activities, notices, available work fronts, and mitigation before assessing entitlement.
Objective: Separate genuine impact from an inflated claim.
- 02
A large certificate is blocked by limited disputes
We isolate undisputed value from deductions and disputed items, then build the evidence and route for each.
Objective: Prevent a partial dispute from starving the entire job of cash.
- 03
Additional work was performed on site instructions
We examine instructions, correspondence, quantities, approvals, and the employer's benefit from the work before building the negotiation or claim.
Objective: Turn site reality into an organized evidence file.
- 04
A subcontractor stops and threatens the main programme
We assess cause, payments, materials, replacement, subcontract terms, and the main contractor's upstream commitments.
Objective: Repair the weakest link before delay travels up the chain.
- 05
EOT is rejected and delay deductions are imminent
We build a timeline of events, notices, impact, responsibility, and concurrency before final account.
Objective: Protect the position before deductions crystallize.
- 06
Final account reopens years of old claims
We rank claims by evidence, value, and impact, settle what can be resolved quickly, and build the material files rather than negotiating one unsupported global number.
Objective: Turn final account from a battle of memory into evidence-based negotiation.
The first 90 days
- 01
Days 1-30
Understand the live project
- Land and partnership structure.
- Programme and phases.
- Main contracts and subcontracts.
- Payment and variation process.
- Existing claims.
- Purchaser, collection, and handover position.
- Security and retention.
- Deadlines likely to become risks.
- 02
Days 31-60
Close the most expensive gaps
- Misaligned contract chain.
- Undocumented variations.
- Delay requiring notice or decision.
- Accumulated certificates and claims.
- High-risk subcontractors.
- Repeatable purchaser issues.
- Security or handover matters requiring action.
- 03
Days 61-90
Build the project legal system
- Claims and variation register.
- Notice and deadline calendar.
- Escalation rules before termination or taking-over works.
- Process for disputed certificates.
- Settlement and exception rules.
- Management dashboard connecting law, time, and money.
- Legal priorities for the next quarter.
How we support contractors
- 01
Pre-award contract review
Identify clauses that can turn an apparently profitable price into a loss-making contract: open scope, unrealistic time, broad liability, difficult payment, security, or deduction terms.
- 02
Payment certificates
Organize evidence, certification, objections, and recovery before several unpaid certificates become a major receivable.
- 03
Variations & additional work
Document instruction, valuation, time effect, and approval rather than completing the work and trying to prove it at final account.
- 04
Extension of time
Build the event, cause, impact, notice, and evidence trail where delay is not attributable to the contractor.
- 05
Disruption & access
Address late drawings, unavailable areas, delayed approvals, preceding works, and other constraints affecting planned execution.
- 06
Subcontracts
Align downstream obligations with the main contract while keeping them workable in practice.
- 07
Security & retention
Review guarantees, retention release, handover, defects periods, and release conditions.
- 08
Termination / taking over works
Assess notices, facts, cost, equipment, completed work, payments, and replacement consequences before a major step is taken.
- 09
Claims & disputes
Turn site records into a provable claim rather than relying on team memory after project completion.
Management dashboard: law in time and money
- 01 Land & partnerships: obligations and open decisions.
- 02 Approvals: required action and programme effect.
- 03 Contractors: progress, delay, claims, certificates, variations.
- 04 Subcontractors: matters capable of affecting critical work.
- 05 Purchasers: collection, cancellation, delay, group claims.
- 06 Handover: readiness, snagging, refusal, outstanding payments.
- 07 Security & retention: values, dates, release conditions.
- 08 Disputes: exposure, objective, alternatives, next step.
- 09 Decisions: what management must decide and by when.
How we work with you
- 01
Ongoing legal partnership
- Development, construction, and subcontract drafting and negotiation.
- Follow-up of material claims, variations, and payment issues.
- Periodic coordination with management, project, and finance teams where needed.
- Negotiation support during execution.
- Purchaser, collection, and handover matters.
- Notices, termination, replacement, and evidence preservation.
- Settlement, litigation, arbitration where applicable, and enforcement support.
- Legal follow-up of security, retention, and handover.
- Clear management reporting on risks and open decisions.
- 02
Who we work with
- Real estate developers.
- Main and general contractors.
- Specialist construction companies.
- Subcontractors.
- Landowners and development partners.
- Real estate and construction investors.
- Project management businesses where the mandate is legal and commercial.
- Residential, commercial, administrative, and mixed-use projects.
- 03
The limits of our role
- We do not replace engineers, planners, quantity surveyors, or technical consultants.
- Delay, defects, and quantity analysis require appropriate technical input; our role is to connect that evidence to contract, rights, and procedure.
- We do not assume entitlement to compensation, EOT, or repricing without reviewing contract and facts.
- We do not guarantee authority, court, or tribunal outcomes.
- We do not recommend stopping a project or terminating merely because a theoretical right exists where the commercial outcome requires another route.
- We do not allow continued performance to become an excuse for failing to document rights.