The Construction Contracts Act 2013 – An Overview

It is absolutely fundamental to trust within the construction industry that participants should be paid for the work which they have undertaken – Sir Michael Latham The Construction Contracts Act 2013, in essence, deals with the timing of, amount of, and enforcement procedures for payments within the Irish construction industry. The Act was introduced to redress a perceived power imbalance between main contractors and sub-contractors which fostered poor payment practices. The Act establishes a formal payment process which may be enforced by aggrieved parties who claim they have not been paid on time or in full, through suspending the works or referring the disputed payment to adjudication. This study has been undertaken in the aftermath of the commencement of the Act on the 25th July 2016. The study reviews the rationale for the introduction of the Act, examines the Act’s provisions, reports industry commentary and analysis, and reviews the findings of various undergraduate and postgraduate studies undertaken on the topic within the School of Surveying and Construction Management in the Dublin Institute of Technology since 2013. The study focuses on the implications of the Act for quantity surveyors and is addressed to Irish students undertaking studies on undergraduate and conversion masters courses in quantity surveying and construction management related disciplines