Our clients engage us for Governance Services when decisions keep returning to the owner, reporting is unreliable or responsibilities are unclear.
At Blaze Business & Legal, we help construction businesses establish authority, assess significant recommendations and oversee commitments. We give legal and business advice on the changes required and help our clients implement them.
Key Takeaways
Construction business owners and decision makers need to delegate parts of their roles and certain tasks while keeping oversight of significant risks and commitments.
With strong governance, Business Owners, Board Directors and Decision Makers can give their leadership teams defined authority and reporting responsibilities so routine decisions no longer depend on the owner alone.
All businesses need a level of governance arrangements in place, but as your business grows the governance requirements that need to be implemented increase exponentially.
With the common use of AI or shadow AI in most businesses, governance these days needs to ensure that Directors are given evidence that staff, management and leadership have assessed significant recommendations against the business’s capabilities, finances, plans and existing obligations before submitting them to the Board.
What do Governance Services include?
At Blaze Business & Legal, our Governance Advisory Services cover Corporate Governance, Board Governance and AI Governance. We can review organisational governance structures, prepare policies and delegations, improve reporting or implement changes across the business. We also audit whether staff follow the agreed governance processes.
How it works
1
Engage us for the agreed work
We discuss your concerns, existing arrangements and any upcoming decisions or changes, then confirm the scope, deliverables, fixed fees and timing. You can engage us for a defined review or broader advice and implementation support.
2
Assess your arrangements and decide what to change
Rachelle Hare, our 25+ year Governance Lawyer, Business Consultant & Governance Advisor examines the relevant documents and discusses responsibilities with owners, Directors, management and staff. We compare those requirements with selected decisions and approvals to identify where practice differs.
3
Put the changes into practice
Depending on the agreed scope, we prepare revised documents, work through implementation with management and help explain new requirements to staff. We can also return to assess whether the changes have been implemented and what still needs attention. Ongoing assistance is available by agreement.
Our clients receive prioritised advice on the changes needed and who should implement them. We also help implement the changes where needed.
Governance for owner-led construction businesses
Owners may approve tenders, negotiate contracts and monitor cash while staff continue referring routine decisions back to them. When management authority remains unclear, appointing more Managers can leave the owner with the same approval workload. We help owners decide which decisions to delegate, what conditions apply and what management must report back.
An owner preparing to step back may need management to take responsibility for subcontractor appointments and routine expenditure while retaining approval of guarantees or significant commitments. We work through those distinctions and document the arrangements. Owners can then delegate defined work and monitor exceptions through reporting suited to their business.
Corporate Governance Services
Our Corporate Governance Services address authority, accountability and oversight across the business. We help businesses establish governance frameworks or improve arrangements that have not kept pace with changes in ownership, management or operations.
Governance Framework Reviews
We conduct Governance Framework Reviews to examine how Directors and management assign responsibility, approve commitments and oversee performance. Rachelle reviews the relevant documents and discusses how the requirements operate with the staff responsible for following them. Selected approvals and reports help establish whether those accounts reflect actual practice. You receive a Governance Review with documented findings, priority-ranked recommendations and an action plan in the agreed format.
Our governance reviews also identify connections between weaknesses. A reporting problem may begin with unclear instructions about who verifies the information, rather than with the reporting template itself.
Delegations and internal governance responsibilities
We prepare a Delegations of Authority Schedule identifying who can approve which decisions, the limits of that authority and when further approval is required. Our clients can define internal governance responsibilities for activities including:
- Tender submissions and contract departures.
- Variations and subcontractor appointments.
- Capital expenditure and equipment commitments.
- Guarantees, settlements and dispute decisions.
- Changes to previously approved commercial terms.
I look at the nature and risk of a possible commitment, not just its dollar value. Even if a contract fits within a Manager’s delegated amount, it could still include a guarantee that only a Director should approve. If a $2 million construction contract includes a Parent Company Guarantee, that contract needs to be escalated up the chain in the business, not signed off by a Manager with a $2.5 million delegated limit.
Governance policies, Directors’ Duties and compliance responsibilities
We prepare and review Board charters, governance manuals and policies addressing responsibilities, conflicts of interest, related-party decisions, confidentiality and escalation. Where a business uses committees, we can document committee authority and reporting requirements. Rachelle advises on Directors’ Duties and legal requirements within the agreed scope.
We can also prepare a Director and Compliance Obligations Map. We identify the applicable obligations, assign compliance responsibilities and document review dates and escalation requirements. Management needs an agreed way to report overdue actions and unresolved compliance concerns to Directors.
Risk and Compliance Oversight
Directors need clear visibility over organisational risks before approving commitments that affect working capital, delivery capacity or existing obligations. Through our Risk and Compliance Oversight work, we examine how management identifies governance risks and reports its response. We help define oversight processes and responsibility for monitoring unresolved concerns.
We can prepare a Risk and Approvals Framework covering assessment, escalation, approval thresholds and reporting. In a construction business, that may include tender risk, contract departures, guarantees and exposure accumulated across Projects. Detailed Risk Management or Compliance work can be separately scoped where you need additional assistance.
Board Governance Services
Our Board Governance Services focus on the information and procedures Directors need to oversee management and assess significant recommendations. You can engage us to review Board operations, clarify management’s submission responsibilities or establish reporting and approval requirements.
Board of Directors Advisory
Our Board support covers how Directors receive information, challenge recommendations and follow up decisions. Rachelle advises Boards of Directors on weaknesses affecting Board performance and effectiveness, including unsupported assumptions, unclear approval requests and incomplete explanations of commercial consequences.
A Board and Leadership Reporting Pack can help management provide consistent information about Project performance, financial position, contractual exposure and strategic priorities. We design the pack around the decisions Directors need to make and identify who prepares and reviews each component. Our clients can establish reporting requirements that support informed decision making without asking Directors to reconstruct management’s analysis.
Board meetings and decision records
We document a Decision and Meeting Schedule suited to the business’s structure and approval requirements. The agreed work can cover Board meetings, leadership meetings, Project reviews and tender approvals, together with:
- Agendas and submission deadlines.
- Terms of reference and reporting responsibilities.
- Minutes, decision logs and approval conditions.
- Action registers and reporting on overdue work.
Directors need to know a condition has been met before an approved proposal goes ahead. I help clients define the evidence needed to close an action, rather than relying on a status marked complete.
A governance calendar can also identify recurring reports, policy reviews and scheduled decisions.
Strategic Board Planning
We support Strategic Board Planning by examining how Directors assess proposals against the annual plan, business plan or strategic plan the business uses. Our structured planning support addresses the evidence management must provide and the review points Directors need for strategic oversight.
For an expansion proposal, management may need to demonstrate:
- How the business will fund the proposed work while meeting existing commitments.
- Whether the business has the delivery capability and management capacity required.
- Which assumptions could change the recommendation and when further approval is needed.
Directors can incorporate those assessments into governance strategies for approving proposals and monitoring implementation.
Leadership and Executive Advisory
Our Leadership and Executive Advisory work addresses unclear authority, differing expectations and governance communication between Directors and management. We provide Executive Advisory Services where leadership teams need help with organisational change, workforce challenges or implementing revised arrangements. Through practical facilitation, we work through who owns a decision, who provides input and when approval is required.
We can also prepare induction material for incoming Directors and Executives. We identify the responsibilities, governance obligations, delegations and current concerns relevant to each role. Briefings can build governance knowledge and leadership capability by explaining how the requirements apply to actual decisions within the business.
AI Governance Services and the Person in the Loop
Our AI Governance Services address how staff, management, Executives and Directors use AI in analysis, recommendations, strategic planning and business decisions. We help our clients define where human judgement is required and establish how a competent reviewer will assess AI-assisted work. The work can include AI use policies, approval requirements and responsibility for checking significant recommendations.
A Person in the Loop needs sufficient business knowledge, evidence and authority to challenge a proposal. Staff may read an AI-generated recommendation without assessing whether the business has the capabilities or resources to carry it out. Management may then assume staff completed that assessment, while senior leadership assumes management endorsed it. Directors receive an apparently considered recommendation and can commit the business to a course of action that nobody assessed properly.
We help specify separate responsibilities for staff, management and senior leadership.
1
Staff
Staff verify information within their roles.
2
Management
Management assesses the recommendations against the business’s industry, capabilities, financial position and existing commitments.
3
Senior leadership
Senior leadership considers strategic fit before endorsement.
4
Directors
Directors then evaluate the supporting analysis and decide whether to approve the recommendation.
We can develop AI Review Records identifying AI’s contribution, the information verified and the assessment of each recommendation. We help incorporate those requirements into governance documents, approval procedures and relevant performance expectations. Management also needs a process for testing whether staff completed the work recorded in their confirmations.
Auditing whether staff follow governance requirements
We can audit whether staff follow documented governance requirements by examining selected decisions, reports and approvals. We compare the evidence with the business’s procedures and assess why departures occurred. Our clients receive advice on weaknesses in implementation, unclear responsibilities and actions requiring management’s attention.
The review can examine whether:
- Staff obtained approval before making a commitment.
- The authorised Manager assessed the proposal and any changed terms.
- Reviewers verified material information and assessed recommendations within their competence.
- Management escalated exceptions and reported unresolved concerns.
- Staff completed required actions and retained evidence of the work.
We consider governance capability alongside the instructions, time and resources available to staff. Directors can monitor governance performance through follow-up checks on completed reviews, overdue actions and reporting requirements. Management can then address specific weaknesses through revised procedures, further instruction or investigation.
Consistent responses to reported concerns support transparency and a positive organisational culture. We help our clients define who investigates, who decides what action is required and how unresolved issues are escalated.
Governance preparation for sale, succession, finance and larger contracts
Some businesses engage us specifically to prepare for a sale, succession, a finance application, investor due diligence or larger contracts. We tailor the work to the event and the information requested by the purchaser, lender, investor or prospective contracting party. Our clients may need documented authority limits, reliable reporting, decision records and evidence of oversight.
For owners preparing to step back, we assess how management will operate without referring every decision to the owner. We help document the arrangements and distinguish improvements already implemented from outstanding work. Owners can use that preparation to explain how the business operates and what still needs to change.
Why work with Blaze Business & Legal?
Good governance includes staff knowing who can spend to what limit, giving decision-makers the information they need and the authority to make those decisions, and having a way to confirm that the person with the right knowledge and authority stands by each document your Board relies on to make a strategic decision.
Rachelle Hare is our Founder and Legal Practitioner Director. She has substantial experience advising Boards, sitting on Boards and advising businesses on establishing and improving governance arrangements. Our clients work directly with Rachelle as a Construction Lawyer, Commercial Manager and Business Adviser who considers the legal and commercial consequences of governance decisions.
At Blaze Business & Legal, our Governance Consulting includes advice and implementation support. We work alongside our clients’ internal teams and existing advisers, with collaborative support directed towards the changes agreed for the business. Where our clients require legal advice, Rachelle provides that advice under the agreed Legal Services scope.
We are based in Brisbane and work with construction businesses across Queensland and Australia.
FAQs about Governance Services
1When should a construction business seek Governance Services?
A construction business should consider Governance Services when owners need to delegate more decisions, responsibilities change or Directors lack reliable information. Our clients also engage us before expansion, ownership changes and significant transactions. We assess which arrangements need attention and what work is required.
2Do Governance Services cover individual Project Management?
Our Governance Services address how the business is directed and overseen, including approval of Project commitments and reporting of Project risks. We can discuss a separate scope for assistance with individual Project Management.
3What do our clients receive from a Governance Review?
Our clients receive the Governance Review findings and prioritised recommendations in the format agreed before work begins. The scope can also include an action plan, revised documents and implementation support. We confirm the required deliverables with you.
4Can an owner-led business use Governance Services?
Owner-led businesses can use Governance Services to define management authority and reduce the need for routine decisions to return to the owner. We help our clients establish approval limits, reporting and escalation requirements appropriate to their operations.
5Can you help implement Governance Review recommendations?
We help implement Governance Review recommendations where implementation forms part of the agreed scope. Our work can include revised policies, delegations, reporting packs and briefings for management and staff. We agree responsibility for introducing the changes and checking completion.
6What does a Person in the Loop mean for AI Governance?
A Person in the Loop reviews or controls a defined stage of an AI-assisted process. Our clients need evidence of what the reviewer assessed and whether the reviewer had the required knowledge and authority. We help define responsibility for checking information, assessing recommendations and approving decisions.
7Can you audit whether staff follow governance procedures?
We can audit whether staff follow governance procedures within the agreed scope. We examine selected decisions, reports and approvals against the requirements, then advise our clients on departures and changes needed to instructions, responsibilities or review procedures.
8How much do Governance Services cost?
We quote Governance Services after discussing the work you require. Pricing depends on the scope, documents, business structure and implementation support. We confirm fixed fees before work begins, with ongoing support available by agreement.
Discuss how we can help improve your governance framework
Get help establishing governance arrangements, reviewing existing practices and implementing improvements in your business. You can engage us for a defined deliverable or broader work across responsibilities, approvals, reporting and oversight.
Call Rachelle on (07) 3063 3373 to discuss your governance requirements and how we can help.
