JCT contract disputes

JCT disputes often turn on the contract version, amendments, notices and project records.

HQ Law advises on disputes arising under JCT forms and amended JCT-based contracts. The starting point is the actual executed contract: standard wording, schedule of amendments, contract particulars and the notices and records generated during the project.

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Common issues

Payment, change, time, defects and termination.

Payment & notices

Applications, due dates, final dates for payment, payment notices, pay less notices and disputes over the notified sum.

Variations & valuation

Instructions, scope change, valuation methodology, loss and expense and final account disputes.

Delay

Extensions of time, relevant events, programme evidence, liquidated damages and causation.

Defects

Responsibility for defects, standards, remedial proposals, access, cost and evidential preservation.

Termination

Contractual grounds, notice formalities, consequences and post-termination accounting.

Adjudication

Referral of crystallised disputes to adjudication where the contractual/statutory route is available.

Which JCT form and edition?

JCT publishes different families for different procurement routes and project types. JCT’s 2024 edition includes, among others, Design and Build, Standard Building, Intermediate and Minor Works families. A dispute analysis should not assume that wording from one form or edition applies to another.

Bespoke amendments can materially change risk allocation, notice requirements, payment machinery and dispute procedures. We therefore ask for the executed contract and amendments at the start, rather than relying on a standard-form summary.

Can a JCT dispute go to adjudication?

Many JCT construction disputes can be adjudicated, but the route depends on the contract and the statutory framework. The actual adjudication provisions and amendments need to be checked.

Does a missed notice automatically decide the valuation?

Payment consequences can depend on the contract, the statutory payment regime, timing and validity of notices. The documents and dates should be reviewed before any conclusion is reached.

Sources and further reading: JCT 2024 Edition information · HGCRA 1996, s.108.

JCT dispute

Send the executed contract, not just the form name.

Tell us the edition, amendments, parties, issue and deadline. That allows the analysis to start with the actual bargain between the parties.

Discuss the contract