4.1 Introduction

Contract risks refer to the chance that contractual objectives will not be fulfilled. The contract defines who bears the liability for the contract risks, and the form and/or terms of the contract can increase or decrease those risks from the norm. That is, use of the appropriate form or terms of a construction contract can play a major role in minimising the risk that the contractual objectives will not be fulfilled. The obverse is that use of an inappropriate form or terms of a construction contract can significantly increase the risk that the contractual objectives will not be fulfilled: