This number looks harmless until it touches your account.

Liquidated damages for subcontractors are often just a scary number someone pulled out of thin air, and you only notice when it's draining your account. Because LDs are meant to be a genuine pre-estimate loss of the delay on the project. Now, the reality is a lot of jobs, they're treated like a punishment figure and not a real calculation. And that's why it matters to you as a subcontractor. If your subcontract links you to a program delay, even when other trades, the client's decisions cause delays, you can end up wearing a cost that was never priced into your margin. So the move isn't hope it doesn't happen, I just signed the contract and move on. The move is to force clarity before you sign. What triggers your LDs? Who controls the program? What's the notice EOT pathway that protects you when the delays aren't yours? Because if the contract lets them hit you with LDs while also rejecting your EOTs for paperwork reasons, you're basically exposed on both ends. LDs aren't a project risk, they are a contract trap. And the only time they feel real is when you're paying them