JCT Standard Forms of Building Contract, 2005 Editions: Part 1

The forms of contract published by the Joint Contracts Tribunal Ltd (the JCT) are the most widely used standard forms of building contract in the UK. They have a long history, with the earliest form published in 1909 (known as “the RIBA form”). This subsequently evolved, through a series of editions published in 1931, 1939, 1963 and 1980, into the 1998 edition of the JCT Standard Form of Building Contract. In parallel with this, the JCT developed other standard forms to cover a wide variety of procurement options. Their widespread use stems from this long tradition, and their claimed advantage of being both standard and agreed by consensus between representatives of all the interested parties Over the last few months the JCT has republished many of its standard forms of contract, and expanded the range with new contracts, subcontracts and guidance documents. The JCT describes this exercise as “a complete update and redesign” of the suite. Publication took place over the period of May to December 2005, and at the time of writing (October 2005) many of the main forms have been published although some, for example the Construction Management Contract, the Management Contract and the Prime Cost Contract are not yet available and many of the subcontracts, warranties and guides are likewise still to appear. The forms for traditional procurement, including the Standard Building Contract 2005 (formerly the Standard Form of Building Contract 1998), the Intermediate Building Contract and the Minor Works Building Contract, are, however, all published, together with related guidance. This article begins with an overview of the general changes to the suite, and then focuses on the more detailed changes to the Standard Building Contract (SBC05). Other forms will be reviewed in a future article. Changes to the suite The new contracts include two Framework Agreements, one binding and the other non-binding. Both are intended for use for the procurement of construction and engineering related works over a period of time, The agreements are for use with a series of individual contracts (or just one)