Dispute resolution, claims and expert support
By the time there is a dispute, the facts are already fixed. What is left is whether you can prove them.
The problem
Contractors and subcontractors lose claims they should win, for reasons that have nothing to do with the merits. The notice went out late. The delay was never linked to a programme. The variation was verbally directed and never confirmed. The site diary stopped in March.
The other failure is the opposite one: running a weak claim because nobody said it was weak. That costs money twice — the cost of running it, and the position it puts you in on the next job with the same builder.
How this works
The first piece of work is an honest assessment: what the entitlement is, what the evidence supports, and what it will cost to pursue. If the answer is that the claim is not worth running, that is the advice, and it comes early enough to be useful.
Where there is a claim, it gets built properly — entitlement identified under the contract or the legislation, quantum substantiated, causation demonstrated rather than asserted. Adjudicators and courts reward claims that do the work for them.
Where this sits
Ambit is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Much of this work is done alongside a solicitor, and Ambit is often the person who assembles the factual and technical case the lawyers then run. Where a matter needs legal advice, that gets said plainly rather than worked around.
Security of payment
Victoria's security of payment regime changed substantially in April 2026, and the changes reach contracts that were already on foot. Most organisations are still running payment claim templates, response processes and time-bar clauses written for the old rules. That is worth checking before it matters rather than after.
What you get
- Early merits assessment — entitlement, evidence, and likely cost to pursue
- Payment claims and payment schedules under the Victorian security of payment regime
- Adjudication applications and responses
- Delay analysis and extension of time claims tied to a programme
- Variation and latent condition claims with quantum substantiated
- Factual and technical support to your solicitor, including expert report input
Call when
- A progress claim has gone unpaid and you do not know what your next step is or how long you have to take it.
- You have received a payment schedule that certifies far less than you claimed.
- You are being held to a time bar you did not know was in the contract.
- Your solicitor needs the construction facts assembled by someone who understands them.