Déjà vu is a rare (yet strangely familiar) feeling that accosts one occasionally on life’s travels, and last week, I experienced what I suspect could be its automotive equivalent. As an avowed petrolhead, when my business partner invited me to join him at a classic car show, I gamely went along. A devout Aston man, on arrival, he duly made a beeline for a stand displaying some of Gaydon’s finest, which ranged in age from the recent past right back to the roaring forties. The phrase ‘kiddie in a sweet shop’ came to mind as he excitedly made his way from car to car, and I have to say there were some fine examples on display, including a very nice DB4 that could have had my name on it if it weren’t for the extra zero on the price tag. And it was as I poked my head inside a smart-looking 2013 Vanquish that I had my déjà vu moment. Because there, in front of me, was what can only be described as a square steering wheel.

Now, if you’ll pardon the pun, it’s not so much a case of déjà vu as reinventing the wheel. And it’s certainly not unique to the car industry - I’ve seen it occur countless times in the world of property development, too. Quite recently, I was asked to give my opinion on a new contractual agreement that someone had conceived to make life for developers much easier. So, I pored over it in detail, asked some pertinent questions, and then politely told the people who had created it that it was a terrible idea. I preferred the square steering wheel.

You see the problem that can often occur with wheel reinvention is that people try to solve a problem caused by how people use a product rather than correcting an inherent flaw in the product itself.

One of the problems that property developers face is that they need to have a commercial relationship with a contractor. For the uneducated, unsuspecting or unwary, this can be an expensive way of learning that your contractor knows how to squeeze every penny out of your project and that they, the developer, can be powerless to prevent this from happening. However, the reality is that some established tools of the trade will help protect an inexperienced developer very well, but only if they’re applied with the benefit of wisdom. Let me explain.

As a developer, one of the most important documents you will have in your armoury is what’s known as a joint contracts tribunal agreement (aka a JCT contract). This is an industry-standard boilerplate contract where the developer and contractor fill in the blanks and then add any special terms that relate to their arrangement. Sounds eminently sensible, however some golden rules need to be applied, along with a good dose of common sense.