Rework
01 / 05LiveThe inspection failed. The next stage was already built on top of it.
The failed result reaches the person who can stop the next stage the day it lands, with the close-out date attached.
What rework costs, and how it is caughtWhat Demiton prevents
The overrun that never happens.
Margin erosion on a construction job rarely comes from one big mistake. It comes from five small, repeatable misses: rework, missed claims, disputes, cost drift and lapsed compliance. We call them the five diseases, because each one is preventable if it is caught early enough.
Every one of them leaves a record before it costs money: an inspection result, a site instruction, a diary entry, a cost line, an expiry date. The record already exists, in a system the contractor already runs.
Missed claims
02 / 05LiveThe extra work was real, or it rained for four days. Both notices went in late.
When the instruction arrives or the rain starts, the clock starts. The notice is drafted and waiting before the window shuts, while the ground is still wet.
What missed claims costs, and how it is caughtDisputes
03 / 05LiveIt went to a lawyer, and the record for that week is empty.
If the day's record isn't in by evening, you're told which one is missing while people still remember the day.
What disputes costs, and how it is caughtCost drift
04 / 05LiveNobody saw the job drift until the final account.
Drift against the price you quoted is flagged at $50K, not $5M.
What cost drift costs, and how it is caughtLapsed compliance
05 / 05LiveThe insurance lapsed the week the client checked.
Every expiry counts down at 90, 30 and 7 days, with the renewal attached.
What lapsed compliance costs, and how it is caughtAll five protections run every day, each against the registers that hold its facts. Where a register is still empty, the protection says which kind of system would fill it.
Your systems stay where they are. Demiton reads them.
Every obligation on your job.
A protection guards one obligation: a duty with a clause, a window and what happens if it is missed. When you add a job, Demiton shows every obligation its library holds for that job's contract, place and principal, with the source document for each. You switch them on one at a time, and each one runs from that day.
Duties on a job come from seven places.
- 01The contractThe form, the amendments to it, and every dated window they set.
- 02Law of the placeThe Acts and regulations of the place the site is in, and the national ones.
- 03The principalYour client's own requirements and the specifications it calls up.
- 04Approvals for this siteThe permits and consents the job holds, and their conditions.
- 05Other counterpartiesFunders, landowners, utilities and the other parties whose terms bind the job.
- 06Workforce instrumentsThe awards and agreements that cover the crew.
- 07Your own standingYour licences and the certifications you have committed to keep.
One job, worked through.
A bridge job at Emerald, Queensland, under AS 4000-1997 as amended. The contract sets its own windows. The site puts the job under Queensland law and, like every Australian job, Commonwealth law. Seven of the obligations Demiton's library holds for it:
The job is made up. Each obligation is a real row from the library.
| Source | Where it is written | The obligation | Protection | Disease |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The contract | AS 4000-1997 cl 34.2 | Claim an extension of time within 28 days of the delay starting | Watch | Missed claims |
| Law, Queensland | BIF Act 2017 s 76(1), s 77 | Receive a payment schedule within 15 business days of each claim, or the full amount becomes payable | Watch | Disputes |
| Law, Queensland | QBCC Act 1991 s 67J(2) | Challenge a set-off from retention within 28 days | Watch | Missed claims |
| Law, Queensland | EP Act 1994 ss 320B-320DA | Notify contamination within 24 hours | Watch | Lapsed compliance |
| Law, Queensland | WHS Regulation 2011 r 304 | Keep the underground services records for 24 months | Check | Lapsed compliance |
| Law, Commonwealth | Taxation Administration Act 1953 Sch 1 s 396-55 (TPAR) | Report payments to building and construction contractors in the taxable payments annual report | Countdown | Lapsed compliance |
| Law, Commonwealth | Fair Work Act 2009 s 535 | Keep time and wage records for every employee for 7 years | Check | Lapsed compliance |
A job for a state road authority would add the principal's specifications. A job under a road corridor permit would add its conditions. Each source adds what the job in front of it carries.
No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.
What each one costs, and where it is caught.
Published research measures what three of the five cost. We say which is which, on every figure, and cite the source.
- What the five diseases cost a $5 million job - every figure worked through one job, with its source and its confidence.
- Each disease and the registers that watch for it - what those registers hold today, in the documentation.
- The research behind them - every figure, its source and how sure we are, for your state.
- What it costs to put a job under protection - every plan gets all five protections; you pay for how much work is covered.
Common questions
What are the five diseases that eat the margin on a construction job?
Rework, missed claims, disputes, cost drift and lapsed compliance. They do not change between a road, a fit-out and a mine site - only the paperwork does. None of them is one big mistake; each is a small miss that nobody saw in time.
Where does weather fit?
Under missed claims. Four days of rain nobody claimed is not a distinct failure mode: it is an entitlement you were owed under a clause and did not claim inside its window, which is what missed claims already means. The protection is the same either way - notice the window, attach the record.
Which protections are live today?
All five. Each runs a check every day against the registers that hold its facts, and each carries its action: the drafted notice, the countdown, the flag to the person who can act. Where a register is still empty, the protection says which kind of system would fill it.
Does Demiton know every obligation on my job?
No, and it never says it does. When you add a job, Demiton shows every obligation its library holds for that job's contract, place and principal, grouped by seven sources, with the source document for each. You switch them on one at a time, and you can add your own. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected.
Do I have to replace my ERP or field system to use Demiton?
No. Your systems stay where they are and Demiton reads them - Business Central, Assignar, Employment Hero Payroll, Xero, SharePoint. The facts land in registers with a published format, so the same question works regardless of which system produced the record.
Is Demiton insurance?
No. Demiton does not take on risk, pay out or indemnify. It stops the problems before they cost money.