JCT contract cheat sheet for subcontractors
Keep your JCT package moving: confirm your scope, apply for payment, record changes and protect your position when work is delayed.
by Jack Butler-Kettle · About 5 min readShare
Before you start
Use this as a quick operational checklist, not a complete contract summary. Keep the signed form, amendments and project dates beside it.
For trade packages using JCT Standard Building or Design and Build subcontracts, including 2016 and 2024 editions. Your signed subcontract controls your relationship with the contractor. A JCT main contract does not make a bespoke subcontract a JCT form. JCT lists the separate contract families.
Working in another role? See the sheet for main contractors or clients.
Step-by-step guide
1. Know your package and who can instruct you
Do this: Mark your scope, exclusions, design duties, access and attendances. Name the contractor's authorised contact and the people receiving notices. Obtain incorporated main-contract documents.
Watch for: Unseen back-to-back terms, conflicting drawings and design obligations hidden in an order. Resolve them before agreeing the package.
Subcontract management and administration can help turn the agreed terms into a working diary of duties and notices.
2. Apply, check the assessment and track the money
Do this: Map application, valuation, due, notice and final-payment dates. Submit a supported cumulative valuation; reconcile notices, deductions and cash received. Use the JCT payment guide.
Watch for: A main-contract payment calendar may not match yours. An application, invoice and payment notice can have different contractual jobs.
3. Turn changed work into a recorded submission
Do this: Record the instruction and drawing revision. Follow confirmation and notification requirements; measure the difference, apply the valuation rules and submit time effects separately. Track submitted, assessed and agreed amounts.
Watch for: A site conversation or signed daywork sheet may record work without agreeing entitlement or price. Confirm what was authorised.
4. Notify delay and explain its effects
Do this: Notify the contractor through your subcontract procedure. Record the cause, affected activities, mitigation and revised forecast. Support additional costs with records of resources and duration.
Watch for: Extra time does not automatically mean extra money. Identify the subcontract grounds for each; do not simply copy main-contract clause numbers.
5. Close your package without losing outstanding items
Do this: Record completion, handover and defects. Reconcile the final account and retention; diarise release conditions and any challenge deadline. Keep disputed items explicit before signing a settlement.
Watch for: Main-project completion may not trigger your retention release. Before stopping work or terminating, check the rights, notice procedure and consequences. See completion and final accounts.
Before you finish: Write down the next action, its owner, deadline and delivery method. Get advice on uncertain rights before an irreversible step.
Worked example
The facts
Fictional example: a JCT subcontractor is asked on site to move installed pipework. The request is missing from the change register.
What happens
The subcontractor checks authority and follows the subcontract's confirmation and notice process.
It records the drawing change, labour, materials and programme effect, then submits the supported adjustment.
What this shows
The record distinguishes instructed change from original scope. The submission still needs assessment under the subcontract.
JCT subcontractor briefing template
Fill the blank briefing from the executed agreement and its amendments. Have the contractual contact, deadlines and responsibilities checked, then issue a dated version to the team.
Free blank template for your own project. The completed example is shown below. No email address required.
View the completed example
Completed fictional example
Westhaven refurbishment · 14 October 2026 · Version 1.0
Project and contract
- Project / package
- Westhaven refurbishment / internal works
- Our role / party
- Subcontractor / Westhaven Interiors Ltd
- Selected form / edition
- JCT Design and Build Sub-Contract 2024
- Amendments / controlled copy
- Signed contract plus amendments schedule rev 2, held in contract folder
- Briefing owner / checked
- Commercial lead; checked 14 October 2026; briefing revision 1
- Contractual contact / route
- Contractor’s named representative; named contact and notice category in signed communications schedule
Site-team operating sheet
Scroll across if needed to read the whole record. A dash means no value has been entered.
| Area | Completed project briefing | Record / owner |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and authority | Partition package only; setting-out design included, structural design excluded. Obtain incorporated terms before relying on the briefing. | Scope rev C; document register / project lead |
| Payment | Submit a supported cumulative application under the subcontract. Record the assessment, deductions, final payment date and receipts. | October application deadline 20 Oct 12:00; checked project diary / QS |
| Changes | Record the authorised instruction and value the change under the agreed rules. Notify time and loss/expense effects through their separate procedures. | CH-07: relocation instruction I-07; price and time unresolved / QS |
| Delay and records | Check the relevant grounds for time and money separately. Keep the delay notice, particulars, mitigation and completion assessment together. | Access restriction 7–8 Oct; D-07/08, AL-07/08, programme P-02 / planner |
| Completion | Record package completion, handover and defects. Check the subcontract retention release condition and final-account/challenge requirements. | Handover HR-01; as-built drawing outstanding / project lead |
Live actions and dates
Scroll across if needed to read the whole record. A dash means no value has been entered.
| Action | Checked project date / source | Owner / evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm CH-07 submission | 16 Oct 2026; review action, not a universal notice period | QS / issued submission and receipt |
| Submit October application | 20 Oct 2026 12:00; project payment schedule P rev 2 | Accounts lead / APP-10 and delivery proof |
| Resolve incomplete handover | 16 Oct 2026; close-out action CO-02 | Design lead / accepted as-built drawing |
Fictional project briefing. Dates and responsibilities shown are illustrative project entries, not standard-form defaults. This original summary does not reproduce or replace the contract. Check every clause, recipient and deadline in the actual executed documents.
Sources
- JCT construction contract families. The Joint Contracts Tribunal.