Which building contracts are covered?

The JCT Minor Works, Intermediate and Standard Building Contracts (with and without contractor’s design where the form has one), the JCT Home Owner/Occupier contract with a consultant, and the RIBA Domestic and Concise Building Contracts.

Does it know the difference between the JCT 2016 and 2024 editions?

Yes. Clause numbers differ between editions, so each contract is read on its own. New JCT contracts are let on 2024, since the 2016 editions are no longer sold.

Which certificates can be issued?

Interim, practical completion, non-completion, making good and final certificates, each called what its form calls it.

On site, in the contract’s own words.

When a job goes to site the architect becomes something else: the contract administrator, holding the balance between client and contractor, with a form that sets out exactly what must be issued, when, and under which clause.

The forms differ in small ways that matter. An extension of time on one is a revision of time on another. The clause for a variation moves between editions. A certificate issued on the wrong day, or not at all, is the kind of thing that costs a practice its insurance excess.

V · The barnSweet chestnut · Oak (European)

The form you let the job on

A contract is set up on its form: the JCT Minor Works, Intermediate and Standard Building Contracts, with and without contractor’s design, the JCT Home Owner/Occupier contract with a consultant, and the RIBA Domestic and Concise Building Contracts. JCT contracts are let on the 2024 editions; contracts already running on 2016 are read on 2016.

From then on Nolliworks uses that form’s own names and clauses: what it calls the paying party, an extension of time, a variation, the rectification period, and whether its liquidated damages run by the week or the day.

Instructions, questions and certificates

Instructions are issued under the right clause and print as PDFs. Requests for information are kept with their answers. Certificates are kept as a ledger: interim certificates, then practical completion, non-completion where it applies, making good, and the final certificate, each by the name its form gives it.

Extensions of time are assessed against the relevant events the form and edition actually list, and print as their own documents.

From letting to the final certificate

The contract moves through its states: draft, active, practical completion, made good, final certificate issued, closed. The practice overview shows every job on site with its contractor and completion date, so it is plain at a glance what is under way and what is nearly done.

In the small print

JCT 2024 and 2016 editions, each read on its own clause numbers
The homeowner’s contract’s Change of Work Details, not a Variation Instruction
Liquidated damages by the week (JCT) or the day (RIBA)
Instructions, certificates and extensions of time as PDFs
Every job on site on the practice overview, with its contractor

Questions practices ask

Which building contracts are covered?: The JCT Minor Works, Intermediate and Standard Building Contracts (with and without contractor’s design where the form has one), the JCT Home Owner/Occupier contract with a consultant, and the RIBA Domestic and Concise Building Contracts.
Does it know the difference between the JCT 2016 and 2024 editions?: Yes. Clause numbers differ between editions, so each contract is read on its own. New JCT contracts are let on 2024, since the 2016 editions are no longer sold.
Which certificates can be issued?: Interim, practical completion, non-completion, making good and final certificates, each called what its form calls it.