Fun, frolics and forms

The joint contracts tribunal sealed a very important contract last month. It moved its publishing agreement from RIBA Enterprises to Sweet & Maxwell as of 1 May 2005.

May was the launch of JCT05 Contracts and Documentation. But is there anything new? Well, there is a glossy yellow background on the covers of the contracts and colour-coded banding. The JCT Standard Form of Building Contract 1998 edition Private With Quantities incorporating amendments 1-5 becomes the Standard Building Contract With Quantities (see below for details of the new JCT codes) with a navy blue band across its middle.

But this is about more than cosmetic changes. The catalogue from Sweet & Maxwell lists the first of the new contracts and their accompanying documentation: 56 publications in all. The new range, along with continuing drafting of further contracts into 2006, represents the widest coverage of procurement methods and the biggest change that the JCT has ever undertaken.

New publishers, new colours, new livery; but is it the same old stuff inside? The answer is a qualified no. The contracts have all been opened up, reviewed and revised. Let’s examine the changes to the suites.

The core document for main contractors has always been the Standard Form of Building Contract. The range was previously six contract documents covering local authority and private editions. This is now covered by three contracts, which merge together the local authority and private editions: the Standard Building Contract With Quantities; the Standard Building Contract Without Quantities; and the Standard Building Contract With Approximate Quantities.

What if the main contractor is involved in the design and sectional completion of the works? Now you no longer require supplements – those horrendous loose-leaf documents that need all sorts of tweaking – they are in the contract.

This is about more than cosmetic changes. Sweet & Maxwell’s catalogue lists the first of the contracts and documentation, 56 publications in all

Let’s turn to subcontracts. The old domestic subcontracts are replaced by new “blue” forms, as the industry knows them, with a navy blue band to show that they match the main contract suite.

The main form covers an option for Contractor’s Designed Portion so two new subcontracts reflect this. The full suite to match the main forms are the Standard Building Subcontract Agreement and Standard Building Subcontract Conditions. These are described as:

• Appropriate for use where the main contract is the Standard Building Contract
• Appropriate for subcontract works where the subcontractor is not required to design
• Can be used where subcontract works and/or main contract works are to be carried out in sections
• Can be used for subcontract works that are to be carried out on the basis of an adjusted subcontract sum or by complete remeasurement
• Not suitable where the subcontractor is to design any part of the subcontract works – instead consider the Standard Building Subcontract with Subcontractor’s Design.

And for subcontractors that take on design work there is the Standard Building Subcontract with Subcontractor’s Design Agreement and the Standard Building Subcontract with Subcontractor’s Design Conditions, described as:

• Appropriate for use where the main contract is the Standard Building Contract
• Appropriate for use where the contractor is to design discrete part(s) of the main contract works
• Appropriate for use where the subcontractor is to design any part of the sub-contract works
• Can be used where the subcontract works and/or main contract works are to be carried out in sections
• Can be used for subcontract works that are to be carried out on the basis of an adjusted subcontract sum or by complete re-measurement
• Not suitable where no subcontractor’s design is involved – consider the Standard Building Subcontract (SBCSub/A and SBCSub/C).

One other general point to make is that the JCT’s helpful digital service allows you to print only the bits of the forms you choose to use.