RIBA Architecture Parts 1, 2 and 3 Construction Law, Contracts and Procurement Syllabus

What does the Defective Premises Act 1972 require, and what is its (post-2022) limitation period?

Section 1 imposes a duty on those taking on work for or in connection with the provision of a dwelling to ensure it is fit for habitation when completed. The Building Safety Act 2022 extended the limitation period to 15 years prospectively and 30 years retrospectively.

Describe traditional (design-bid-build) procurement and how design and construction responsibilities are split.

The employer engages a design team (architect, engineers) to fully design the building, then tenders the completed design to contractors. The contractor is responsible only for construction/workmanship; the design risk stays with the employer/design team. Selection is usually on a lump-sum, fully-designed basis.

What are the principal advantages and disadvantages of traditional procurement?

Advantages: high design quality and employer control, price certainty before start, well-understood process. Disadvantages: longer overall programme (design must finish before construction), no early contractor buildability input, and the employer carries design risk.

Describe design and build (D&B) procurement.

A single contractor takes responsibility for both design and construction, providing a single point of responsibility. The employer's requirements are met by the contractor's proposals. Design risk transfers to the contractor; price and programme certainty are generally good, but design control by the employer is reduced.

What is 'novation' in a design and build context?

The employer's design consultants, originally engaged by the employer, are transferred (novated) to the contractor so the contractor takes on and completes their design. The original contract is extinguished and replaced; the consultant then owes its duties to the contractor.

What is the difference between 'develop and construct' / contractor's design portion and full design and build?

In full D&B the contractor designs the whole building from the employer's requirements. In a contractor's design portion (CDP) only a defined element (e.g. cladding, structure) is designed by the contractor within an otherwise traditional contract. 'Develop and construct' has the employer partly design before the contractor develops it.

Describe management contracting.

A management contractor is appointed early, for a fee, to manage the project and let the works to works contractors. The management contractor contracts with the works contractors but does not carry out the work itself. The employer effectively bears the works contract risk; suits fast-track and changeable design.

Describe construction management and how it differs from management contracting.

In construction management, a construction manager is paid a fee to manage and coordinate the works, but the employer contracts directly with each trade (works) contractor. In management contracting the management contractor (not the employer) holds those works contracts. CM gives the employer maximum control but maximum risk.

In which procurement routes does the employer carry the greatest construction risk, and why?

Management contracting and construction management. Because the works packages are let with the design often incomplete and risk is not transferred to a single contractor, the employer absorbs cost and time uncertainty in exchange for speed and flexibility.

What is a framework agreement?

An umbrella agreement between an employer (often a public body) and one or more suppliers/contractors setting agreed terms under which individual call-off contracts can be awarded over a period (typically up to 4 years), avoiding repeated full tendering for a series of similar projects.

What is partnering in construction, and distinguish project from strategic partnering?

Partnering is a collaborative working approach based on mutual objectives, trust, open-book costing and agreed dispute-resolution. Project partnering covers a single project; strategic partnering is a long-term relationship across multiple projects, often underpinned by a framework.

What are the key factors when selecting the appropriate procurement route?

The 'iron triangle' of time, cost and quality, plus the employer's priorities, risk allocation/appetite, certainty required, complexity, the need for early start/overlap of design and construction, and the employer's experience and desire for design control.

If price certainty before commitment is the employer's top priority, which procurement route is generally most suitable, and why?

Traditional (lump-sum) procurement, because the design is complete before tender, allowing contractors to price a fully defined scope and give the employer a firm contract sum before construction starts.

If early completion (speed) is the employer's top priority, which routes are generally most suitable?

Management contracting or construction management, because construction can begin on early packages while later design is still being developed (fast-tracking/overlapping), reducing overall programme at the cost of price certainty.

What is the JCT and what is the JCT suite of contracts?

The Joint Contracts Tribunal produces a family of standard form construction contracts widely used in UK building work. The suite includes Standard Building Contract, Intermediate, Minor Works, Design and Build, Major Project, Management and Construction Management forms, plus sub-contracts and consultancy/warranty documents.

When would you choose the JCT Minor Works versus the Intermediate versus the Standard Building Contract?

Minor Works: small, simple, low-value projects with basic provisions. Intermediate (IC): more substantial works of simple content with named specialists/provisional sums but no complex services. Standard Building Contract (SBC): large or complex projects needing detailed provisions for variations, fluctuations and loss/expense.

What is the role of the contract administrator/architect under the JCT Standard Building Contract?

To administer the contract impartially between the parties: issuing instructions and variations, certifying payments and practical completion, assessing extensions of time and loss and expense, inspecting the works, and issuing the making good and final certificates.

What are the NEC contracts and what is their defining philosophy?

The NEC (New Engineering Contract, currently NEC4) is a suite of contracts emphasising proactive, collaborative project management, clear plain-English drafting, flexibility through Main Option clauses, and prompt risk management via the early warning and compensation event mechanisms.

What are the NEC main payment options A to F?

A: priced contract with activity schedule (lump sum). B: priced contract with bill of quantities. C: target contract with activity schedule (pain/gain share). D: target contract with bill of quantities. E: cost reimbursable. F: management contract.

What is the role of the Project Manager under NEC contracts?

The NEC Project Manager acts on behalf of the employer to manage the contract proactively: instructing the Contractor, responding to early warnings, assessing and implementing compensation events, certifying payment, and managing the programme — a more managerial, day-to-day role than the JCT contract administrator.

What is the NEC 'early warning' mechanism?

Both Project Manager and Contractor must notify each other as soon as they become aware of any matter that could increase cost, delay completion or impair performance. Such matters are entered in the Early Warning Register and addressed at risk reduction meetings to manage them collaboratively before they escalate.

What is a 'compensation event' under NEC?

A listed event (e.g. an employer instruction, a change, certain risks) that entitles the Contractor to an assessed change in the Prices and/or the Completion Date. It replaces the traditional separate variation, extension-of-time and loss/expense claims with one integrated process.

What is a variation (change) in a construction contract and how is it valued?

A variation is an authorised change to the scope, quality or quantity of the works (or to conditions) instructed by the contract administrator. It is valued using the contract's valuation rules — typically applying contract/bill rates to like work, pro-rata rates for similar work, or fair rates/dayworks where no comparable rates exist.

Distinguish a claim for an extension of time (EOT) from a claim for loss and expense.

An EOT extends the completion date for delays caused by 'relevant events', protecting the contractor from liquidated damages — it concerns time only. Loss and expense compensates the contractor for additional cost from 'relevant matters' (employer-caused disruption) — it concerns money. The two are assessed separately.

What is the difference between a concurrent delay and the prevention principle?

Concurrent delay occurs when two delay events (one the contractor's risk, one the employer's) cause delay at the same time. The prevention principle states an employer cannot levy liquidated damages for delay it caused; if no valid EOT mechanism applies, time may be 'set at large' and only general damages recoverable.

What is the purpose of the final account and the final certificate?

The final account is the agreed statement of the total adjusted contract sum (including variations, claims, fluctuations and adjustments) due to the contractor. The final certificate certifies the final balance payable and is often conclusive evidence (subject to challenge windows) that the works comply with the contract.

Compare negotiation and mediation as dispute-resolution methods.

Negotiation is direct, voluntary discussion between the parties to reach settlement, with no third party. Mediation is a voluntary, confidential, non-binding process in which a neutral third-party mediator facilitates a settlement but does not decide the outcome; any agreement becomes binding only once recorded in a settlement contract.

What is statutory adjudication under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the Construction Act)?

A right for any party to a construction contract to refer a dispute to an adjudicator 'at any time'. The adjudicator must reach a decision within 28 days of referral (extendable by 14 days with the referring party's consent, or longer by agreement). The decision is binding on an interim basis ('temporarily binding') and enforceable until finally resolved by litigation or arbitration.

What are the key timescales and features of the adjudication process under the Construction Act?

Notice of adjudication, then appointment and referral within 7 days, with the adjudicator's decision normally within 28 days of referral. It is quick and relatively cheap ('pay now, argue later'), each party generally bears its own costs, and the decision is enforceable by the courts via summary judgment though only temporarily binding.

What is arbitration and how does it differ from litigation?

Arbitration is a private, consensual process under the Arbitration Act 1996 where an independent arbitrator decides the dispute and issues a binding, enforceable award. Unlike litigation it is confidential, the parties choose the arbitrator (often with technical expertise), procedure is flexible, and rights of appeal are very limited. It requires an arbitration agreement, whereas litigation is a public court process available as of right.

What is expert determination, and how does it differ from arbitration?

Expert determination refers a dispute (often technical, e.g. valuation) to an expert who decides it using their own expertise and whose decision is final and binding by contract. Unlike an arbitrator, the expert is not bound by the Arbitration Act, generally need not follow judicial procedure, and the decision has very limited grounds of challenge. Litigation/arbitration, by contrast, are governed by formal procedural and evidential rules.