AS4902 vs AS4000 for Club Redevelopments

AS4000 and AS4902 are the two Australian Standard head contracts a NSW club is most likely to be offered for a redevelopment or major refurbishment. AS4000 is construct-only: the club's architect and engineers design the project and the builder builds it. AS4902 is design and construct (D&C): the club sets its requirements, often with a preliminary design, and the builder completes the design and builds it, taking on responsibility for that design.

The choice decides who carries design risk, how much control the club keeps over the finished venue, how variations are argued, and how early the board gets a fixed price. This guide explains both forms in plain language for club boards, CEOs and the principal's side of the table.

AS4000 and AS4902 at a glance

	AS4000	AS4902
Full name	AS 4000 General conditions of contract (1997 edition, revised as AS 4000:2025)	AS 4902-2000 General conditions of contract for design and construct
Delivery model	Construct only	Design and construct, design development and construct, or design, novate and construct
Who completes the design	The club's consultants	The builder, to meet the Principal's project requirements
Who carries design risk	Mostly the club, for the design it provides	Mostly the builder, which gives design warranties
Novation of the club's consultants	Not part of the model	Built into the form (clause 9.4)
Superintendent	Yes	Yes
Latent conditions (unamended)	Treated as a deemed variation	Treated as a deemed variation
Separable portions	Clause 4	Clause 4

Neither form is "the builder's contract" or "the club's contract". Both were drafted as balanced starting points, and both are routinely amended. What matters is which model fits your project and how carefully the amendments are negotiated.

What is AS4000?

AS 4000 is the Australian Standard general conditions of contract for construct-only work. The club (the "principal" in the contract) engages consultants to fully document the design, tenders that documentation, and appoints a builder to construct it. Under the unamended form, the club is responsible for defects in the design it hands to the builder, although the builder has an implied duty to warn the club of design defects it notices.

Most people searching for "AS4000 1997" are looking at the 1997 edition, which has been the industry workhorse for almost three decades. On 30 June 2025 Standards Australia published AS 4000:2025, the first significant revision since 1997. The risk allocation is deliberately unchanged. The update modernises the language and consolidates definitions, adds provisions for GST, the Personal Property Securities Act and appointing a principal contractor under WHS laws, clarifies that practical completion can occur before the certificate is issued, and expands the dispute resolution options.

Contracts already signed on the 1997 edition continue on their own terms, and you may still be offered a contract built on the 1997 text. Either way, the 2025 edition still does not deal with Security of Payment legislation, because it differs between states. A NSW contract needs its own amendments for that.

What is AS4902?

AS 4902-2000 is the design and construct version of the same family of contracts and follows the structure of AS 4000. The club states its requirements in the Principal's project requirements, which must include the stated purpose of the works, and may include a preliminary design. The builder then completes the design and constructs the works.

The form supports three ways of working:

• Design and construct: the club provides requirements but usually not a detailed design.
• Design development and construct: the club provides requirements and a preliminary design, such as a DA-stage scheme.
• Design, novate and construct: the club provides a preliminary design and the builder takes over the club's consultants by novation.

Under the unamended form, the builder warrants that it has examined any preliminary design and that it is suitable for the stated purpose, and that the completed works will be fit for their stated purpose. Those warranties survive the club's own design input, the novation of the club's consultants, the superintendent's review of design documents, and variations.

Following AS 4000:2025, Standards Australia has said it will review and update AS 4902. At the time of writing we could not find a published revision, so AS 4902-2000 remains the edition you will be offered.

Which contract suits a club project?

There is no universal answer, but the questions are consistent. We covered the broader traditional versus D&C trade-offs in construction contracts for your refurbishment project. For a club, the decision usually turns on four things.

AS4000 tends to suit when:

• the design can be fully documented before tender and design quality is the priority, such as heritage fabric or a signature dining and entertainment space;
• the board wants direct control over finishes, specification and consultant decisions;
• the club is prepared to manage the consultant team and carry the risk of design errors.

AS4902 tends to suit when:

• programme matters, and design development can overlap with procurement and early works;
• the club wants one party responsible for coordinating design, services and construction in an operating venue;
• the club can write clear, complete project requirements, including trading and staging constraints.

The design, novate and construct route sits between the two. The club's own architect takes the design to DA or a developed stage, the club tenders on AS4902, and the architect is novated to the builder. Design intent stays in the club's hands through approvals, and the risk of completing the design passes to the builder.

On Granville Diggers, where UpScale PM is the club's client-side project manager, Stage One is being delivered under AS4902 D&C with James Clifford Construction as head contractor. The contract uses two separable portions: the first covered completing the design and the consultant work needed for the Construction Certificate, and the second covers construction and the Stage One fit-out. The structure is explained on the Granville Diggers AS4902 and separable portions project page.

Choosing the form is part of procurement strategy, so it belongs in the same conversation as how you shortlist and evaluate builders. See consultant and builder procurement.

The superintendent's role

Both forms require a superintendent, a person named by the club to administer the contract. The superintendent gives directions, assesses extension of time claims, prices variations, issues progress certificates, and certifies practical completion and the final certificate. Under clause 20 of both forms, the club must ensure there is always a superintendent and that the superintendent performs the role reasonably and in good faith.

The role is two-sided. When giving directions the superintendent acts as the club's agent. When valuing, assessing and certifying, the superintendent must reach an independent decision and the club must not direct the outcome. That tension is why lawyers caution against principals appointing their own project manager as superintendent: the person paid by one side is being asked to decide fairly between both.

Two practical points for boards:

1. The superintendent administers the contract; it does not supervise the builder's workmanship. Quality inspection is a separate scope that has to be appointed deliberately.
2. The superintendent works to the contract's clock. Missed timeframes can hand the builder an extension of time or turn a claim into the amount payable, as explained below.

A client-side project manager is a different role: the club's representative, briefing the board, coordinating consultants and checking the builder's claims and programme from the club's side. Keep the two roles distinct in your appointments.

The practical differences that matter

Design risk and novation

Under AS4000, errors in the club's documents usually become variations and delays that the club pays for. Under AS4902 the builder carries the design, but only against what the club asked for. Two unamended clauses show how this plays out:

• If the superintendent directs a change to the builder's design documents, that change is a variation only to the extent the documents already complied with the Principal's project requirements (clause 8.3).
• The builder bears the cost of resolving discrepancies within its own design documents, or between those documents and the Principal's project requirements (clause 8.1).

So the quality of the project requirements decides the variation position. A vague brief lets a D&C builder meet the letter of the requirements with lower-cost solutions, and anything the club adds later is a variation.

Novation is dealt with in clause 9.4. Where the requirements include a preliminary design, the club can direct the builder to execute a deed of novation (the form is in Annexure Part D) taking over the consultants named in the Annexure, without extra payment. After novation the architect works for the builder. Decide before tender who will check the builder's design development against the club's brief once that happens.

Latent conditions

Both unamended forms define latent conditions as physical conditions on the site and its near surrounds, including artificial things but excluding weather, that differ materially from what a competent contractor should reasonably have anticipated at tender after inspecting the information provided, information reasonably obtainable, and the site. The builder must notify promptly, ideally before disturbing the condition. The effect is a deemed variation, but costs incurred more than 28 days before the notice are not recoverable.

For an older club building, concealed conditions such as hazardous materials, undocumented structure or failing services are the usual culprits. Principals often amend this clause to push more of the risk onto the builder, and builders price the risk they are asked to carry. Pre-tender investigations reduce the unknowns for both sides.

Extensions of time

The builder is entitled to an extension of time (EOT) when delayed by a qualifying cause of delay and it claims within 28 days of when it should reasonably have become aware of the cause. The superintendent then has 28 days to assess the claim. Under the unamended forms, if the superintendent does not respond in time, the EOT claimed is deemed granted. Where qualifying and non-qualifying causes overlap, the delay is apportioned.

Deleting the deemed EOT is a common principal amendment. Whatever your contract says, make sure the superintendent is resourced to meet the deadlines, because an extended date for practical completion also reduces your liquidated damages.

Variations

In both forms the builder may not vary the work unless directed in writing, and the superintendent can direct variations up to practical completion. Variations are priced in this order: prior agreement, applicable contract rates, rates in a schedule, then reasonable rates including profit and overheads (clause 36.4).

The difference is what counts as a variation. Under AS4000, any change to the club's documents can be one. Under AS4902, design development within the project requirements is the builder's job, while changes to the requirements are variations. For more on controlling claims, see managing builder variation claims.

Security and retention

Both forms let the builder provide security, commonly bank guarantees or retention deducted from progress payments, in the form and amount stated in the Annexure. On the certificate of practical completion the club's entitlement reduces by the percentage stated in the Annexure (under AS4902, half if nothing is stated). The balance is held until after the final certificate, which follows the expiry of the last defects liability period. Our walkthrough of the MBA BC3 contract covers the same retention logic in the Master Builders form.

Practical completion

Practical completion is reached when the works are complete except for minor defects that do not stop the building being used for its stated purpose, required tests have been passed, and documents essential for use, operation and maintenance have been supplied. The builder gives at least 14 days' notice of the date it expects to reach practical completion. Once it asks for a certificate, the superintendent has 14 days to issue one or give reasons.

Practical completion is the hinge of the contract: liquidated damages stop, the defects liability period starts, security reduces, and responsibility for care of the works passes to the club. For a club, list the certificates and documents you need to open and trade in the contract as practical completion requirements, so the builder cannot claim completion without them.

Defects liability

The defects liability period starts at 4 pm on the date of practical completion and runs for the period in the Annexure (12 months if nothing is stated). The builder must fix defects in a way that causes as little inconvenience as reasonably possible to occupants and users, which matters in a trading venue. The superintendent can direct rectification during the period and can set a fresh defects period for rectified work.

Liquidated damages

Both forms let the club set a daily liquidated damages rate in the Annexure, certified for each day the builder runs past the date for practical completion. Guidance notes in AS 4000:2025 warn that writing "$Nil" is likely to mean no liquidated or general damages at all. Base the rate on the club's realistic loss, such as lost trading margin, extended consultant fees and holding costs, because a rate out of all proportion to likely loss invites a penalty argument.

If your project will open in stages, each stage needs its own dates and rates. See separable portions explained.

How NSW Security of Payment interacts

The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) gives builders a statutory right to progress payments on top of whatever the contract says. For a club as principal, the points that matter are:

• Payment claims can be made on the dates the contract sets, or on the last day of each month if it sets none.
• Payment schedule: if the club intends to pay less than the amount claimed, it must provide a payment schedule, with its reasons, within 10 business days of receiving the claim (or any shorter time the contract sets). If no schedule is served in time, the club is liable for the full amount claimed, and if the builder goes to adjudication or court the club cannot rely on defences under the contract or cross-claims.
• Payment timing: a head contractor must be paid no later than 15 business days after its claim, or earlier if the contract says so.
• Supporting statement: a head contractor claiming from a principal must include a supporting statement declaring it has paid its subcontractors.

The unamended AS4902 payment clause uses calendar days: the superintendent certifies within 14 days of a claim and the club pays within 7 days of the certificates or 21 days of the claim. NSW contracts are usually amended to line the contract up with the Act, including making the superintendent's progress certificate the club's payment schedule, which generally works where the superintendent is authorised to act as the club's agent for that purpose. A superintendent who issues late certificates is a real financial exposure for the club, not an administrative slip.

A board checklist before signing

1. Decide the delivery model (construct-only or D&C) before briefing the design team for tender.
2. For AS4902, stress-test the Principal's project requirements: purpose, performance, finishes, staging and trading constraints.
3. Decide whether the architect will be novated, and who checks design development for the club afterwards.
4. Appoint the superintendent deliberately, with the independence and resources to meet the contract's timeframes.
5. Read the special conditions on latent conditions, EOTs and time bars, not just the headline price.
6. Set liquidated damages from a real estimate of the club's loss, per stage if the venue opens in stages.
7. Confirm the payment clauses align with the NSW Security of Payment Act.
8. Get legal review of the full contract before the board resolution to sign.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between AS4000 and AS4902?

AS4000 is a construct-only contract: the club's consultants design the project and the builder builds it, so the club carries most of the design risk. AS4902 is a design and construct contract: the club sets its requirements, often with a preliminary design, and the builder completes the design and warrants that the finished works will be fit for their stated purpose.

Is AS4000-1997 still used now that AS 4000:2025 exists?

Standards Australia published AS 4000:2025 on 30 June 2025 with the same basic risk allocation as the 1997 edition. Contracts already signed on the 1997 edition continue under their own terms, and you may still be offered a contract based on the 1997 text. Check which edition your contract uses, because clause numbers and some procedures differ.

What does AS4902-2000 cover?

AS 4902-2000 is the general conditions of contract for design and construct. It covers design and construct, design development and construct, and design, novate and construct procurement, with a superintendent administering the contract. Standards Australia has said it will review AS 4902 following the release of AS 4000:2025.

Who should be the superintendent on a club project?

Someone with the independence, experience and time to administer the contract reasonably and in good faith and to meet its timeframes. The superintendent acts for the club when giving directions but must decide independently when certifying, so appointing a person whose main duty is advocating for one side can create a conflict.

Can a club stage its redevelopment under AS4902 or AS4000?

Yes. Both forms allow separable portions, each with its own date for practical completion, security, and liquidated damages. The portions should be written into the contract before signing, because staged works that are not formal separable portions generally cannot be certified complete one stage at a time.

Does the NSW Security of Payment Act override the contract's payment terms?

The Act sits over the contract. A club that wants to pay less than a payment claim must serve a payment schedule within 10 business days, and a head contractor must be paid within 15 business days of its claim. Contract terms can shorten these periods but not extend them, so NSW contracts are usually amended to line up with the Act.

Sources

All sources accessed 25 September 2026. We have paraphrased the Standards rather than reproducing their text.

• Standards Australia, Standards Australia updates AS 4000:2025 General Conditions of Contract, 30 June 2025.
• Standards Australia, General Conditions of Contract (flagship project page, including the planned review of AS 4902).
• Standards Australia, AS 4000-1997 General conditions of contract and AS 4902-2000 General conditions of contract for design and construct (incorporating Amendment No. 1), clauses 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 14, 20, 25, 34, 35, 36 and 37.
• HWL Ebsworth Lawyers, The new and improved AS 4000:2025 General Conditions of Contract is here!, 31 July 2025.
• McCullough Robertson Lawyers, Release of the new AS4000-2025, 14 August 2025.
• Turtons, Introduction to AS 4000, 8 June 2018.
• Turtons, Introduction to AS 4902, 16 August 2019.
• Turtons, Common amendments to AS 4000, 22 June 2018.
• Turtons, Practical completion under AS 4000, 3 August 2018.
• Mastt, What is AS4902? An introduction to AS4902-2000 for project managers.
• Vincent Young, Differences in the design component between Australian Standard contracts and GC21, 10 July 2024.
• Holding Redlich, What is the role of the superintendent?, 3 November 2021.
• Construction Law Made Easy, Obligations of a superintendent.
• NSW Government, Making a payment claim under Security of Payment laws.
• NSW Government, Responding to a payment claim.
• NSW Government, Security of payment for construction contractors.
• Bradbury Legal, Is a progress certificate issued by the superintendent a payment schedule for the purposes of security of payment?, June 2021.

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