Construction Secrets

Cian Brennan
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Management
  • Updated weekly

Welcome to the Construction Secrets podcast where we talk about signing better construction contracts, getting better project cash flow and making more profit per project, and the many mistakes and failures we have learned along the way. Powered by Quantum Contracts.

  1. 21 hr ago

    Navigating Risks in Construction Projects ft. Seth Tandett Pt. 1 [#ThrowbackThursday] | Ep. 429

    Work With Me - ⁠Click Here⁠ Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Click Here⁠ (Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass) This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023. What happens if your head contractor stops paying you next month? If you read your termination clause, the answer might be "nothing." They can terminate you for convenience. You can't terminate them at all. So you keep working. Keep spending. Keep hoping. While the rumours about their cashflow get louder. That's the trap most subs don't see until they're in it. Listen to the full episode now. Timestamps: (5:28) - The worst contract in the whole chain goes to the guy that hasn't got the resources to deal with (5:44) - That is probably the systemic issue in the construction industry where so many subcontractors actually don't understand how to negotiate and they don't understand what to negotiate either (8:15) - Successful companies in construction have a long-term view (12:18) - You got to look at your local laws as far as payment terms and things like that because you can leverage those laws on your behalf (14:28) - Whatever you prefer to put up as security, you want to make sure it's tied to your own specific contract and not to the head contract DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

  2. 16 Jul

    The Lie About Construction Profit Margins | Ep. 428

    Work With Me - Click Here Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - Click Here (Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass) - 0:00 The lie killing your construction profit margin - 0:33 What every losing subcontractor project has in common - 2:16 What a mentor in Iraq taught me about real margin - 3:11 Two electrical subs, same $10M job only one made money - 5:00 Margin isn't priced. Margin is managed. - 5:23 Pre-award: how to negotiate a contract worth signing - 6:57 Post-award: the day-one habit that protects every variation - 8:27 Why the best subs bid lower than you and still win  Most construction business owners think their profit margins get locked in the day the contract gets signed. They don't. The subcontractors winning the bids you can't compete with and still making money figured this out years ago. In this video, Cian Brennan breaks down the lie quietly killing margins on subcontractor jobs: the idea that margin gets priced. It doesn't. It gets managed.

  3. 2 Jul

    How To Negotiate Well as a Construction Subcontractor ft. Paul Heming Pt. 2 [#ThrowbackThursday] | Ep. 427

    This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023. If you've ever held back on a notice or a variation because you didn't want to "rock the boat," read this. The subs who get taken advantage of are the quiet ones. The ones who absorb the hits, mitigate the delays, and never tell anyone. Lovely humans. Terrible business owners. You've got to tell everyone. Every delay. Every variation. Every notice. That's not being difficult. That's the job. Don’t miss out - listen now. Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow. Work With Us: Here Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here Timestamps: (4:17) - If you want to be seen as professional and you want to be respected and have a good reputation, you don't get that from rolling over and doing what you're told nonstop (9:59) - If you're contractual, you will be more profitable (15:37) - Being contractual in inverted commas for the listener is not something that you shouldn't do. It's something that you should do because it completely and utterly protects you (16:04) - No main contractor is going to come to you and start attacking you for being contractual if you're delivering on your promises (20:04) - It's better to get a bad document in than waiting to get a perfect document because you can always revise about documents DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

  4. 25 Jun

    The Construction Contractor's Guide to Managing Delays and Cost Disputes ft. Paul Heming Pt. 1 [#ThrowbackThursday] | Ep. 426

    This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023. You can sit at the table having spent 500 grand. Or you can sit at the table having spent a tenner. Same argument. Very different leverage. That's the whole game when a variation isn't getting approved. Tune in! Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow. Work With Us: Here Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here Timestamps: (5:46) - It's about getting an outcome, getting paid, getting stuff approved (11:18) - The transaction of money more and more is bound by the contracts and less by handshakes (11:46) - Too often subcontractors get the short end of the stick, and that's largely because their resource is not the resource of whoever they go after (18:54) - The first thing in catching that fundamental problem is going into the contract and negotiating that out and saying, no, no, we're not doing that (19:47) - When I'm talking about contract and I always say it's not just contractually it's about strategy DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

  5. 18 Jun

    How To Use AI for Construction Businesses ft. Martin Preece Pt. 2 [#ThrowbackThursday] | Ep. 425

    This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023. The truck driver on the mining site who heard about self-driving trucks had two choices. Do nothing and get made redundant. Or learn the tech and end up running five trucks from a joystick. That's where construction is with AI right now. Hit the play button now. Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow. Work With Us: Here Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here Timestamps: (4:17) - It's a race to see who loses the least amount of money (7:12) - The law is above the contract and the contract falls as part of that (11:25) - Just control what you can control (16:53) - Media is leverage (18:39) - By using AI, you can deliver things quicker (25:04) - If you can get that business to pay for itself, you're essentially getting relationships and leads for free DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

  6. 11 Jun

    How Construction Companies Master Effective Communication ft. Martin Preece Pt. 1 [#ThrowbackThursday] | Ep. 424

    This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023. Three things the longest-lasting subs all do: They negotiate hard, every single time. They walk away from risky contracts, even good ones. They protect their margin like it's oxygen. That's it. That's the whole game. Listen up. Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow. Work With Us: Here Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here Timestamps: (2:46) - I was seeing so many companies losing money and going out of business because they didn't understand the contract (15:12) - Lowest price technically qualified doesn't mean you're going to have the lowest total cost of ownership (16:28) - If you've got a reasonable margin, you can afford better people (23:43) - The most successful ones tend to be family-run businesses like full-family businesses (24:47) - Making a reasonable margin on a low-risk job is better than making a high margin in a high-risk job over time DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

  7. 4 Jun

    Structuring Deals and AI in the Construction Industry ft. Will Foret & Justin Neagle Pt. 2 [#ThrowbackThursday] | Ep. 423

    This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in April 2023. Most subs think the money is made on site. It's not. It's made in the terms. I've seen tier ones win projects at a loss because they know they can claw the margin back post-award through variations and EOTs. Meanwhile the subs underneath them are signing the worst version of the contract, because nobody told them there was a game being played. If you've ever felt like you're doing all the work and somehow keeping none of the profit, tune in. Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow. Work With Us: Here Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here Timestamps: (1:44) - The returns are in the terms, that's where your money is made (5:10) - Liquidated damages are to compensate your client for the delay and the cost of the delay (8:37) - A lot of times there's an option to submit an alternative bid (18:56) - There can only be one angry man in the boat (22:24) - Chat GPT is very very powerful so it's just gonna continue to get better DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

  8. 28 May

    Singular Focus & Scaling ft. Will Foret & Justin Neagle Pt. 1 [#ThrowbackThursday] | Ep. 422

    This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in April 2023. Two electrical subs. Same project. Same scope. One made a killing. The other nearly went under. And here's the thing, right? The one that nearly collapsed actually did the better job on site. But their variations never got approved. Their EOTs weren't submitted properly. Their scope looked late on paper. And the head contractor hit them with liquidated damages. The other sub? Quietly contractually savvy. Got every variation paid. Protected their margin. Same site. Same scope. Nothing to do with the quality of the work. In this episode, we break down what separates the subs who scale from the ones who get quietly bled dry, one small variation at a time. If you've ever finished a job and wondered where the margin went, have a listen. Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow. Work With Us: Here Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here Timestamps: (6:40) - Negotiate the right things in the right way (10:20) - Lawyers would get you out of the problem that you're in (14:52) - Scale brings complexity (21:49) - How we've done over 2600 contract reviews and negotiations (28:50) - Approximately 26% of all bankruptcies of all businesses are from the construction industry (31:54) - If you try to negotiate they'll just give the work to somebody else DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

See All (429)

About

Welcome to the Construction Secrets podcast where we talk about signing better construction contracts, getting better project cash flow and making more profit per project, and the many mistakes and failures we have learned along the way. Powered by Quantum Contracts.

Information

  • Creator
    Cian Brennan
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    429
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Cian Brennan
  • Show Website
    Construction Secrets

You Might Also Like