Who is the head contractor, on paper?
Entity name, ABN, licence status in the delivery state, recent project history, and payment behaviour with subcontractors, from official counterparty records and industry sources, checked this tender, not remembered from last time. A head contractor under administration leaves subcontractors as unsecured creditors whatever the work package promised; a head contractor with a pattern of slow certification leaves them as financiers at zero interest. Diligence cost is trivial beside either outcome.
How does money reach you?
Payment claims, certification, timing, retention, and set-off, under the subcontract’s terms and the applicable state’s security-of-payment legislation, which sets claim mechanics, adjudication rights, and time bars that differ by jurisdiction. Confirm which state’s Act governs and read its current time limits; adjudication windows are short and unforgiving, and this page states no figure that relieves you of checking. Retention and bank guarantees demanded of you mirror the head contract’s security logic (read with bank guarantees and retention) and substitution clauses decide whether your package survives your own delay; read with subcontracting restrictions.
What does the gate look like?
Counterparty diligenced from records. Payment chain mapped with the governing Act identified. Security demands priced. Scope fenced with substitution mechanics read. Any blank row is a review with a date, and a head contractor who will not answer diligence questions has answered the only question that matters.