NBS Contracts and Law Report 2018

Our NBS Research and Analysis Team published the 2018 Contracts and Law report in recent weeks.

As is typical with NBS research publications, the report is a mix of survey results and expert articles.

Download now for free at:
- https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/national-construction-contracts-and-law-report-2018

Some snippets from it below:

Sarah Fox examines why the construction contract process is not more digital

What the benefits of collaborative projects are

Building contracts get signed before building begins... right?

Thankfully the majority of projects do not go into dispute

Looking at professional services contracts, an update on the upcoming RIBA PS Contracts 2018

Download now for free at:
- https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/national-construction-contracts-and-law-report-2018

To find out more about the strategic market research services offered by NBS - see the link below:
- https://www.thenbs.com/for-manufacturers/services/market-research

Free RIBA Contract Administrator Forms for use with RIBA Building Contracts

RIBA and NBS have published free Contract Administration Forms for use with the RIBA Building Contracts.

RIBA Building Contracts can be generated using the NBS online tool or bought in paper version from RIBA Bookshops. There is a Domestic version and a Concise version that may be used for residential and small commercial projects.
- ribacontracts.com

The screenshots below explain the process...

Generate your project-specific building contract online with the help of NBS guidance and suggested values

Generate a professional-looking PDF contract for the client and the contractor

Follow the link to download free useful forms and letters

A number of essential forms may be downloaded for either contract

Professional-looking Contract Administrator form, authored to work with the corresponding building contract

These free forms are the latest offering in an effort to provide for the whole industry.

On the smallest of jobs, a construction professional may use NBS Domestic Specification and the NBS RIBA Contracts service through their web browser on a pay-per-project basis. They may use tools like the NBS BIM Toolkit, National BIM Library and free forms and templates from RIBA Job Book and these contract administration forms for free.

On the largest of jobs, in addition to free resources, subscription services such as NBS Create and NBS Contract Administrator may be used to create efficiencies and reduce risks.

RIBA Building Contracts – The NBS digital tool

Last month saw the launch of new building contracts from the RIBA. They are the RIBA Domestic and Concise building contracts that can be purchased in paper or digitally. The launch event was at 66 Portland Place and there was also plenty of interest in the contracts at the recent Guerilla Tactics event for small practices.

This blog post looks, in particular, at the NBS digital tool that can be used to prepare these contracts.

Generate your building contract online

Read the guidance, view a sample contract and then start preparing one for your project

NBS users will be familiar with drop down values and synchronised technical guidance

Main clauses from the contract conditions may be revised where required

A professional-looking building contract is generated in PDF form - this can be issued to the employer and the contractor

A simply, clearly laid out contract in plain language

- http://contracts.thenbs.com

Photographs from the launch events are below...

Cross, Sinclair, Henderson and Udom on the stage at the RIBA

Every seat is taken for Guerilla Tactics

RIBA Building Contracts - coming soon

Today the RIBA announced that they will launch two building contracts. These will be available in the next few weeks.
- www.ribacontracts.com

There will be a domestic building contract for a customer and contractor. This is simple and clearly laid out and for all types of non-commercial work. There will also be a concise building contract for an employer and a contractor. This is suitable for all types of simple commercial building work.

At NBS, we have been working hard behind the scenes to develop a digital tool to allow users to generate a RIBA Building Contract online. This tool will be a pay-per-use service that architects and contract administrators can use through their web-browser whether on a PC or a Mac. Being pay-per-user means that there is no need to pay for a subscription service - the cost can simply be passed onto the project. Being online means that there is no need to download and install any software.

The NBS digital tool to generate your building contract

These new building contracts are designed specifically to be simple, comprehensive and effective. They are written in plain English, fair to all parties, allow the project to be completed in sections and allows the contractor to design parts of the project.

To read what Stephen Hodder (RIBA President) and Jane Duncan (RIBA President-Elect) said about the contracts launch please see the press statement on architecture.com.

For a video interview with Dale Sinclair (RIBA Vice President for Practice and Profession) please see the ribacontracts.com website.

Find out all about the RIBA Building Contracts in three minutes

I'll do a blog post with a walk through of the software and also link to some sample contracts once the tool goes live in November. There'll also be a proper CPD session on the contracts and a demonstration of the software at Guerrilla Tactics at the RIBA.

...and of course, being in R+D I am naturally pro-digital, but the contracts can be bought in paper too.

Contract clauses in the olden days

Here is a genuine construction contract clause from the olden days.

From presentation given at the BIM Summit Qatar that I attended.

I'd say there is quite a strong incentive to over-engineer the design to ensure that the risk documented below is fully managed!

One way of ensuring design quality

NBS Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2012

Following the National BIM Survey 2011, the National Specification Survey 2011 and National BIM Survey 2012, today the National Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2012 was published. The report is completely free to download from the URL below:
- http://www.thenbs.com/topics/ContractsLaw/articles/nbsNationalConstructionContractsLawSurvey2012.asp

NBS Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2012

A number of organisations helped NBS by circulating the survey to their members. This helped us get over 1,000 respondents which helps give real substance to the findings.

Organisations that supported the research

Some of the headline findings as reported by the NBS Research and Analysis Manager Adrian Malleson are as follows:

• “Our findings suggest that the time when ‘pen gets put to paper’ [with respect to signing the contract] is a real cause for concern… Most alarmingly yet, 4 per cent either never sign a contract or only do so after completion. This can’t be best practice.”
• "Of the two most popular contracts, as we would expect, the JCT suite is more commonly used for lower value projects, whilst the NEC suite is more commonly used for higher value ones."
• "In some responses, we can see a real desire for construction to be a collaborative, team-based enterprise where extra value is generated through co-operation. But for others, Latham’s words still ring true, and the industry is still far from the team-based ideal.”

In addition to Adrian's analysis and an introduction from RIBA Enterprises Chief Executive Richard Waterhouse there are also a number of articles from construction industry experts:

• Nick Deeming, Partner, Faulkner Browns Architects asks "Why is collaboration so hard?"
• Ann O'Connell, Partner, bto solicitors asks for "A bit of common sense"
• Matthew Molloy and Jonathan Cope, Directors, MCMS look at current trends and practical tips for UK construction adjudication
• Koko Udom and Roland Finch, Contracts and Law team, NBS go "Back to the basics"

Koko pictured recently, Roland pictured circa 1982 :)

As with all of the surveys, it is our intention to repeat them each year so that trends can be analysed.

On a related subject, check out our new Contracts and Law blog at:

- http://www.thenbs.com/blogs/contracts-and-law/

This follows on from our recently published Sustainability blog:
- http://www.thenbs.com/blogs/sustainability/