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JCT 2024 isn't a minor tweak. It's a structural shift that changes how risk lands on your plate and how you'll need to respond.
The language has evolved, new obligations have emerged, and design responsibility has been redefined. Most importantly, it alters how you build, price, and protect your margin.
Below, you'll find what changed in the Design and Build 2024 contract, why it matters for quantity surveyors, and what steps you might take next. We've written this with commercial directors, contract administrators, and quantity surveyors in mind — the people who work inside these contracts every day.
JCT 2024 replaces the 2016 suite with updated legal language, new provisions on building safety, and clearer roles for everyone (JCT Contracts 2024 edition). It aligns the contracts with legislation like the Building Safety Act 2022 and brings them closer to the UK's Construction Playbook.
Design and Build (DB) remains the standard form when the contractor handles both design and construction. However, the structure, documentation, and enforcement of that responsibility have changed.
As a quantity surveyor, you'll feel these updates first. You're the one drafting scopes, assessing risk, managing change, and reviewing claims. Any shift in contract language or risk allocation hits your desk before anyone else.
At a glance, DB 2024 introduces:
These changes affect how you procure trades, review scope, and handle disputes. They also provide a chance to tidy up the messy bits that usually lead to claims. After all, the updated contract is now watching more closely.
JCT 2024 reshapes risk by clarifying who carries what, when, and how. Quantity surveyors often face more pressure during tendering, closer scrutiny in contract reviews, and heavier front-end workloads.
This shift isn't just a legal headache. It's a workload problem. If you don't catch the details early, you'll be stuck fixing them later, when there's less time, higher costs, and no leverage.
Picture a typical DB project. The design is partially complete, you've got multiple trades to procure, and the programme is already tight. Under JCT 2016, fuzzy exclusions or vague provisions might have saved you some hassle. JCT 2024 tightens those screws. If you miss safety obligations, scope gaps, or unclear design responsibility, you'll own the cost.
The key changes in JCT 2024 appear early in the project lifecycle. They influence how scopes are drafted, how prelims are priced, and whether downstream contracts mirror the head terms.
Managing multiple projects only amplifies that extra effort. Cutting corners means missed risks. Ignoring them means disputes.
You must map JCT 2024 changes straight into everyday tasks. That includes creating scopes, reviewing design liability, and compiling tender packs.
If the contract changes but your process doesn't, you'll pay in time and margin, which calls for procurement digital transformation.
JCT 2024 adds an explicit duty to act in good faith. Co-operation is no longer a 'nice-to-have' — it's a contractual obligation.
You must now rethink how you negotiate, draft subcontracts, and handle disputes by improving construction contract management. Behaviour you once overlooked might be considered a breach. Refusing to engage, leaving subcontractors in the dark, or staying silent on crucial clarifications could trigger legal trouble.
As a quantity surveyor, you'll need to watch how you deal with subcontractors around scope changes, value engineering, or tender queries. If you push too much risk without clarity, you're the one who could be called out.
If a claim arises, you need to show you acted reasonably, not just that you followed procedures, especially for complex contracts. Document your steps and decisions clearly and consistently.
Don't rely on memory or verbal agreements. Written records are essential if a dispute emerges. If you use ProcurePro, each message, attachment, and action is automatically linked to the package. There's no frantic search through email threads — everything is stored, organised, and easily traced.
Under JCT 2024, design responsibility is sharper. Contractors owe a duty of reasonable skill and care unless the contract stipulates a higher threshold. Fitness for purpose only applies if it's expressly stated.
This clarity can help you, but you need to check every word of the contract. If the client or contractor has accepted certain design obligations, you must ensure the downstream terms match. Otherwise, you could end up carrying someone else’s risk.
Treat subcontractor design like an overhead risk. Pin it down, document it, and control it.
Picture a steel frame package with unclear design assumptions. If trouble surfaces later, the dispute won't be about drawings — it'll be about liability. JCT 2024 helps you avoid that, but only if you do your homework at the start.
JCT 2024 embeds building safety into the contract, reflecting the Building Safety Act 2022. If you're working on higher-risk buildings, you now have to prove you've met those duties in both design and delivery.
The contract embeds Building Safety Act dutyholder appointments and related information obligations; teams still need processes that maintain the BSA ‘golden thread’. There's nothing vague here — it's explicit. If you price or manage packages with design elements, everyone must understand their obligations under the Act.
Safety compliance also affects your programme, costs, and risk. If your subcontractors don't grasp their responsibilities, you won't spot the gap until it turns into a variation or, worse, a claim.
Include a separate line for safety compliance costs at tender stage. This helps highlight what's allowed for and what's missing.
If you’re procuring cladding or mechanical and electrical services, ask if the subcontractor included fire performance and digital O&M manuals. If they haven’t, you’ll eat the cost of retrofits later.
Termination clauses in JCT 2024 are clearer and more structured. They apply to both employer and contractor. When relationships break down, the contract now offers a better-defined pathway with fixed notice triggers, timelines, and processes. In the UK, a worrying number of projects ended in termination in 2023 due to non-performance or compliance failures, underscoring the need to follow these procedures precisely.
Quantity surveyors must track these triggers, keep records up to date, and stick to the correct procedures if things start to go sideways. Employers can terminate if there's poor performance or missed safety duties. Contractors can walk if payments aren't made or work is suspended for no valid reason.
You should note:
If your procurement is mid-tender when termination hits, you'll need to freeze everything. That includes checking progress to date, payment status, and any scope still under review.
Once termination is possible, your records become evidence. You must show what was agreed, issued, and paid. If you lack proof, you’re vulnerable.
To stay protected:
If you see red flags like missed approvals or stalled design, pause new awards. Gather your final account position and be ready to switch gears if needed. Termination is commercial, not just legal. A messy exit can drain your margin.
JCT 2024 refines the list of relevant events that entitle contractors to claim extra time. This matters for quantity surveyors who review claims, value progress, and prepare interim assessments.
Definitions are crisper, covering events such as regulatory changes, delayed approvals, or third-party interference. That means less wrangling about interpretation, but more pressure to document everything properly.
If a subcontractor claims delay due to a new safety check, you need to tie it to the updated clause. If it doesn't match, or if the notice was late, the claim won't succeed. And you'll be the one explaining why.
Track not just physical progress but also which delay events might apply. Late notifications affect your forecasts, cash flow, and risk profile.
Use a checklist to confirm if a delay event qualifies under the new contract. Then verify if the subcontractor notified it on time and provided evidence. If it’s valid, factor it into the programme impact.
Look for:
Check these monthly against your actual progress. If you spot something slipping, see whether it triggers a relevant event. Don't wait for a claim — head it off with proper documentation.
JCT 2024 refreshes contract language, inserts a good faith clause, incorporates the Building Safety Act 2022, and shifts how parties manage design liability, termination, and extensions of time. It also aligns more closely with public procurement guidance, particularly the Construction Playbook.
It’s an express obligation to co-operate in certain circumstances, especially when co-ordination or support is needed. Both parties must meet higher standards of conduct. Failure to engage or clarify can be classed as a breach if it disrupts the other side.
The Joint Contracts Tribunal released JCT 2024 in June 2024. It may be used immediately, though there's no set deadline to stop using JCT 2016. Public bodies are expected to move toward JCT 2024 as frameworks refresh, but there’s no mandated cut-over date.
If you're still using JCT 2016 assumptions in your scopes or tenders, you're already behind. JCT 2024 is active and brings new responsibilities around design, safety, and subcontract alignment.
Your contract process must adapt. Review how you issue scopes, track risk, and record decisions. Waiting until a variation or dispute forces the issue is a sure way to waste time and lose margin.
ProcurePro helps you manage JCT 2024 procurement in one place. You can set up scope libraries, automate contract workflows, and keep every record aligned with the new terms.
Book a demo to see how it all works.
James Metcalfe
