Building Contracts – Where Do I Start?

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Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
0:42 Where Do Contracts Come From?
1:54 The Homeowners Form of Contract
2:46 Minor Works
3:31 Intermediate Contract and the Standard Building Contract
4:09 Design and Build Contracts

Building Contracts – Where Do I Start?
When you’re having building or refurbishment work done, one of the most important things is to make sure you have the right level of control over all of the pieces and people that make up your project team. All of these people need to be able to work together to make your project happen, which means they need to be clear on what is required of them.
To do that, you need a contract. And today we want to talk about what contracts are, the most popular types of contracts used in the industry, what they’re designed for and the broad differences between them.

Where Do Contracts Come From?
In simple terms, a contract is a legally enforceable document where one party agrees to provide a product or service to the other party in return for payment. The contract itself outlines the terms of the agreement, including how the services should be delivered and when they should be paid for.
In the past, contracts were drawn up by solicitors tailored to the individual project and parties. In some cases that still happens today, but the need for legal representation to get every single contract drawn up would be expensive and inefficient for modern businesses. So to make things easier, several industry bodies were created to develop standard contracts for the construction industry. These contracts have been created in consultation with representatives from all areas of the profession and customers, so that the terms are fair to all sides.
Enter the Joint Contract Tribunal, or JCT family of contracts. This is one of the most widely used form of contract in the construction industry, and it has a wide variety of standard contracts designed to deliver a range of types of projects. There are other industry bodies that provide similar products, but today we’re just focussing on the main JCT offerings, from the homeowner contract to large-scale design and build contracts.
As we go on to discuss contracts, the main difference between them to note is the processes available to manage and control the contract works for both cost and time.

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