Major Projects Program

Scope of Services

The team provided full-spectrum commercial advisory support across Sydney Water’s AWRC, Richmond, and Lower South Creek Treatment programs. Responsibilities included entitlement reviews, development of commercial risk strategies, negotiation of deed settlements, and close engagement with governance and legal stakeholders to achieve efficient commercial closure.

Innovations

At AWRC, the team took a collaborative approach by negotiating a delay and disruption claim at project inception. This ensured the commercial relationship was protected from the outset, supported by entitlement assessments and expert reports prepared to the highest standards of readability and contractual compliance. On Richmond, tailored claim strategies were developed to address multiple high-value matters, incorporating targeted expert engagement to strengthen Sydney Water’s position.

Challenges & Resolutions

The AWRC claim presented risks of early dispute escalation; these were resolved through transparent, collaborative negotiation and rigorous entitlement validation. At Richmond, challenges included the scale and complexity of multiple concurrent claims, requiring strategic prioritisation and robust quantum assessments. The legacy issues at Lower South Creek posed significant risks, but the team successfully led the analysis and negotiation of a negligence claim, resulting in a favourable multi-million-pound settlement for Sydney Water.

Best Practice Initiatives

The team embedded a structured approach to entitlement assessments, expert engagement, and deed negotiations, ensuring consistency and defensibility of outcomes. Lessons-learned processes were applied across the three programs, capturing knowledge to strengthen Sydney Water’s internal governance and improve future claim management.

Value for Money Achieved

By securing a collaborative settlement at AWRC, managing multiple high-value claims at Richmond, and delivering a multi-million-pound settlement on Lower South Creek, the team reduced financial exposure, improved cost certainty, and protected Sydney Water’s long-term interests. These outcomes demonstrate how structured commercial advisory, rigorous entitlement analysis, and proactive negotiation delivered clear value-for-money across all three programs.