William Barrington

Full Profile

William is a Special Counsel in the Projects & Construction Group in our Sydney office, specialising in front end construction matters. He is a trusted advised to a number of high profile construction and infrastructure clients and manages all aspects of contract preparation, including negotiation, drafting and risk analysis, as well as providing ongoing live project support.

He is experienced in drafting and advising on all Australian standard form construction contracts. William has worked with a broad range of clients including developers, contractors, subcontractors, supplies, consultants, financiers, purchasers and tenants on construction and infrastructure projects.

He is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales and, prior to moving to Australia in January 2020, he worked in London for a US law firm and a national law firm. During this time, he advised clients on the main forms of English and international constructions contracts. He also undertook secondments to the Middle East and with the in-house legal team at Mace Group, a leading international construction and consultancy company.

Before joining Clyde & Co in August 2022, William worked at a leading construction boutique law firm in Sydney.

Experience

• Contractor – medical facility: Acted for a leading building contractor on a $250m medical research facility in Sydney, including advising on the procurement process and negotiating the building contract. Also, drafting the pass down template subcontract and consultancy agreement, drafting a contract administration manual containing flowcharts and notices for key procedures and a contract relationship diagram.
   
• Contractor – drafting template documents: Instructed by a national contractor to update its suite of construction contracts including drafting template bespoke subcontracts and consultant appointments, suitable for projects in New South Wales, the ACT and Queensland.
   
• Contractor – subcontract pass downs: Acted for an international contractor on a $200m national rail project which includes drafting a pass down template major subcontract.
   
• Contractor – contract reviews: Regularly carry out due diligence reviews of head contracts for a leading fit-out contractor in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. Highlight provisions which pose a risk, propose amendments where appropriate, advise on the implications of commercial decisions and lead the negotiation. Recently advised on amended AS 4000 and AS 4902 contracts as well as construction management and bespoke contracts.
   
• Contractor – subcontract and supplier negotiation: Act for a leading Spanish contractor in negotiating its template contracts with subcontractors, consultants and suppliers for a variety of projects throughout Australia including a major transport upgrade in Queensland.
   
• Consultant – contract reviews and drafting templates: Receive regular instructions from a leading provider of consulting and engineering services in Australia and New Zealand. Review and comment on the risks in bespoke appointments for a range of projects including a rail project in Victoria, a defence project in New South Wales and for a disaster repair panel in New Zealand.
   
• Supplier – contract negotiation: Advise a rail track fastener supplier on a number of major rail projects including negotiating with a consortium on the largest public transport project in Victoria and drafting a pass down agreement to its international supplier.
   
• Developer – hotel: Acted for a developer on its redevelopment of a site in Haymarket into an upscale hotel. Drafted and negotiated the ECI deed and AS 4902 building contract with a leading contractor and liaised with Transdev regarding interface of the works with Sydney Light Rail.*
   
• Developer – school building program: Acted for an autism charity on its extensive construction program to build and operate specialist schools in New South Wales and South Australia, including drafting and negotating a framework agreement with a modular contractor, a vast number of building contracts based on the AS 4902 and AS 4905, bespoke consultant appointments and a maintenance contract.*

* Denotes experience obtained prior to joining Clyde & Co.