The main contract claim can fail because the evidence or obligation sits one tier down.
Back-to-back obligations, nominated suppliers, design interfaces, pass-through claims, pay provisions, notices and dispute clauses create a hierarchy where responsibility can fragment between employer, main contractor and subcontractor.
The Contract Tier Dependency Map
Translate site events into a traceable chain of entitlement, evidence, time, cost and outcome.
The Contract Tier Dependency Map
Project decision pathwayIdentify where each duty originates.
Ensure downstream events preserve upstream rights.
Separate package and employer responsibility.
Use contractual mechanisms for pass-through where valid.
Use compatible clauses / Article 35 where available.
What can change entitlement or quantum while the project continues.
The analysis should refresh as programme, records, instructions, testing and payment positions move.
Back-to-back myth
General incorporation does not always mirror every term.
No privity
Employer usually cannot claim directly against subcontractor absent legal basis.
Notice mismatch
Main and subcontract time bars may differ.
Pay-if-paid / pay-when-paid
Enforceability varies by jurisdiction.
Settlement authority
Main contractor may compromise upstream claim differently from subcontract interest.
Confidentiality
Evidence sharing across tiers can be restricted.
Build the record contemporaneously.
Construction intelligence becomes more reliable when the project, commercial and legal teams use the same event chronology.
Fix scope, programme, price and responsibility.
Identify event and preserve contractual position.
Capture site, programme and cost evidence.
Test causation, entitlement and quantum.
Use prevention, specialist review or arbitration.
The institution can stay close to the project before the claim becomes forensic.
Article 35 gives UNIONE™ a procedural tool for related contracts where arbitration agreements are compatible, but the contract architecture must still preserve consent and rights across project tiers.
Reconstruct project history after positions harden.
The programme, notice and cost records are reconstructed after delay, disruption or payment positions have already hardened.
Keep claims architecture alive during the works.
Time, scope, evidence, payment and dispute prevention remain observable throughout the project.