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If you're letting subcontracts under the JCT 2024 design and build contract, you know the real work starts before a single shovel hits the ground. This checklist is for commercial managers, contract administrators, and quantity surveyors who want clean, enforceable contracts that match what was agreed — and protect you if things go sideways.
We’re focusing on the big issues that regularly lead to disputes, delays, and margin erosion. Think flow-downs, warranties, professional indemnity (PI), and cyber risk. If you don’t sort these now, you’ll be wrestling them long after practical completion.
The 2024 update brings a few changes that will affect your subcontracts — especially if you're still using templates from the 2016 suite. First, collaborative working is now mandatory. Article 3 makes it an explicit obligation, which means tighter scrutiny of communication and dispute handling.
Second, building information modelling (BIM) is more formally embedded. If you have a BIM Protocol, it must be clearly referenced in the Contract Particulars and treated as a contract document. That’s not optional — if it’s missing, your BIM expectations may not be enforceable.
Third, there’s more emphasis on data handling and cyber security. The Common Data Environment (CDE) demands clarity on access rights, data ownership, and liability if something goes wrong.
Finally, risk allocation around design and information handling is sharper. If a subcontractor takes on design responsibility, make sure the scope and insurance obligations align with the main contract. If you ignore these changes, you’ll pay more to fix them later.
Letting a subcontract without checking the details is like showing up to a claims meeting with nothing but a handshake. Packages fall over when you assume main contract obligations have been carried through. A checklist shows you if you’ve mirrored the important clauses or just copied whatever worked on the last job.
The small misses cost you. Misaligned dates, missing warranties, and unconfirmed insurance linger until they explode. We’ve seen disputes over parent-company guarantees that were never requested pre-award. We’ve also seen projects stalled when the subcontractor’s PI policy didn’t match the design scope.
A decent checklist catches these headaches early. It ensures everything that matters is addressed up front, so you’re not scrambling when you should be building.
Subcontractors should be on the same payment cycle as the main contract. If your client is on 30-day terms but your subbies are on 14, you’ll face a cashflow squeeze. Also, confirm the payment triggers. If the subcontractor expects payment on submission but your client pays on sign-off, you’ll get stuck covering the gap.
If a subcontractor carries design risk, confirm they’ve priced for it and have the right insurance. Spell out exactly who is responsible for what. The JCT 2024 D&B form places more weight on design risk. If the subcontractor isn’t clearly on the hook, you are.
Indemnities protect you financially when things go wrong. Copying template text might miss specific exposures. If the head contract indemnifies you for design defects, intellectual property breaches, or delays, make sure the same obligations flow down to the subcontractor.
Start by reviewing your head contract. Go clause by clause, and mirror anything you’re liable for. If it’s missing in the subcontract, you carry the risk.
This is commercial survival, not legal theory. If the client expects a certain standard of performance and you fail to impose it on subcontractors, that shortfall lands on you.
Check how the main contract handles payment. If your terms are 30 days, align the subcontract. Confirm billing triggers, like milestone approvals or monthly valuations. If your subcontractors expect payment on a different schedule, you’ll end up funding the gap.
Make design responsibilities explicit. Clarify standards, insurance, and approvals. The JCT 2024 D&B contract intensifies design risk. If you’re not imposing these obligations downstream, they’ll rebound on you.
A missing indemnity is a gap in your cover. If the head contract holds you liable for something, ensure your subcontract does the same. Otherwise, when problems arise, you’ll be left footing the bill.
Warranties and bonds are often overlooked under pressure. Yet, they’re crucial when issues arise. If the JCT 2024 D&B contract requires them, make sure your subcontractors provide them. Check the main contract schedules for third-party rights, bond requirements, and guarantees. If you wait until signing, it might be too late to negotiate the details.
If the employer needs warranties for funders, tenants, or future purchasers, you must flow that requirement down. Look at Schedule 5 in the JCT 2024 D&B. It states who is entitled to warranties and the forms they should take. Get them signed before work starts. If you wait until completion, you’ll have no leverage left.
Not every package needs one, but structural, façade, and MEP works often do. Confirm whether the bond is on-demand or conditional, and whether it triggers on poor performance or just insolvency. Vague wording reduces the bond’s usefulness when things go pear-shaped.
If you’re dealing with a group structure, ask for a parent-company guarantee early. Check the parent’s legal connection to the subcontractor. Make sure the guarantee lasts as long as the defects period. If the parent refuses to sign, you want that conversation long before anything goes wrong.
PI insurance stands between you and a massive bill for design issues. It’s harder to get than it used to be, and many policies now have exclusions that render them nearly useless. Check exactly what’s covered before signing.
Review the policy’s start and end dates. If the job runs for 18 months but their policy expires in 12, you’re unprotected. If the subcontractor folds post-completion and a design defect emerges after year one, you could be on the hook.
Some head contracts require cover for up to six or 12 years after completion. If that’s in your contract, pass it upstream. Get clarity on run-off cover for design liabilities. If the policy excludes essential elements of the subcontractor’s scope, it’s not worth much.
State it plainly in the subcontract. For instance:
‘The subcontractor shall maintain professional indemnity insurance of £5,000,000 for each and every claim, from the date of this subcontract until the expiry of the defects liability period and for six years thereafter.’
Project data no longer sits in ring-binders. It lives in shared environments, accessed through multiple systems and logins. That makes subcontractors data handlers — and puts you at risk if they drop the ball.
Make it a subcontract condition that any data breach is reported within a strict timeframe. Often, 24 hours is standard. If the breach involves personal data, you could face regulatory trouble if you don’t report it within 72 hours. That clock doesn’t stop just because a subcontractor delayed telling you.
Ask how subcontractors store and share project data. Check hosting locations, encryption, and access controls. Some subcontractors still use consumer-grade apps like Dropbox. These might not meet your client’s security standards, especially on sensitive projects.
If you’re using a Common Data Environment, confirm who controls access at termination. Who owns the data? Who pays for long-term storage and retrieval? Gaps here often cause major headaches later.
You’ve verified insurances, warranties, and flow-downs, but errors can still creep in at the final hurdle. Don’t let an unsigned annex or mismatched date render the contract useless.
Start with the basics. Are the project name and legal entities correct? Do dates line up with the latest programme? Does the contract sum match what was agreed? Are design responsibilities clearly stated? If any of these details are off, you’re inviting a fight.
Most risk lives in the schedules. Check the revisions of drawings and specifications, and ensure warranty forms are attached. If you see placeholders like ‘TBC,’ you’ve just opened the door to disputes.
Confirm you’re compliant with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Identify the principal contractor. If you work on higher-risk buildings, make sure Gateway 2 duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 are covered. Check health and safety requirements, the Modern Slavery Act, and any fire safety obligations. If you don’t have these nailed down, you risk more than just contractual claims.
Flow-down clauses take head contract obligations (such as delay damages or design responsibilities) and impose them on subcontractors. They plug liability gaps and ensure everyone faces the same commitments.
Yes. If subcontractors even receive drawings by email, you’re facing cyber risk. Smaller jobs are just as vulnerable. One unsecured login can lead to a costly breach.
You shouldn’t need piles of spreadsheets and folders to know if your subcontract is watertight. Yet that’s still how many teams operate. The biggest risks aren’t always what’s missing — they’re what you wrongly assume is covered.
A standardised procurement platform removes that guesswork. It walks your team through each step, flags missing documents, aligns terms with your head contract, and stores it all in one place. No last-minute surprises when warranties vanish, and no toggling between random files.
ProcurePro does this by linking scopes, tenders, comparisons, contracts, and sign-offs in one connected system. It eliminates duplicate effort and confirms each box is ticked. Book a demo to see how it works on your next project.
James Metcalfe
