This guide explores the vital role a Contracts Administrator plays throughout a construction project, with a particular focus on the impartiality that underpins their value. Drawing on our own scope of services and industry-leading experience, we’ll illustrate what a good CA does and why choosing the right team, like Cliftons Projects, can significantly impact your project’s success.
Understanding the Contracts Administrator Role in Construction Projects
In any construction project, the Contracts Administrator (CA) acts as the operational glue that binds client expectations with contractor performance. Although their duties are often behind the scenes, their impact is front and centre, affecting budget, timelines, quality, and risk management. At its core, the role requires not just technical knowledge but a commitment to impartiality and detail-oriented execution.
What Does a Contracts Administrator Do?
A Contracts Administrator ensures the terms of a building contract are upheld by all parties throughout the lifecycle of a project. They are involved from contract finalisation through to project completion, overseeing everything from monthly valuations and certifications to change management procedures, delay notifications, and compliance with relevant regulations such as the UK’s CDM 2015.
Their central function includes:
- Finalising and arranging execution of contracts (e.g. JCT or NEC contracts),
- Implementing change control procedures,
- Preparing interim valuations and certifying payments,
- Monitoring site progress and managing quality compliance,
- Advising on risk of delays and mitigation strategies.
These responsibilities, when executed impartially, ensure transparency and trust across all stakeholders, two elements that are crucial in avoiding disputes and delivering successful outcomes.
Why Impartiality Matters
Impartiality is the hallmark of a competent CA. Acting neutrally between client and contractor ensures that decisions around valuations, delays, or claims are fair and defensible. An impartial CA reduces the likelihood of conflict and builds a stable working environment, where all parties feel their contractual rights are respected.
Cliftons Projects adheres strictly to this principle. Our CAs serve not as client agents but as contract administrators in the purest sense, safeguarding the integrity of the building contract while maintaining transparency and accountability.
The Cliftons Projects Difference
At Cliftons Projects, our approach to contract administration is methodical and independent. From setting up change control protocols to maintaining document management systems, we uphold rigorous standards that reflect best practices and ensure regulatory compliance. Whether we're coordinating with steelwork contractors or managing obligations tied to airfield construction protocols, our CAs always act with the project's best interest at heart.
If you want to know about the service we can offer, please email us on info@cliftons-projects.com