JCT: definition and example
The Joint Contracts Tribunal, which publishes a family of standard building contracts and subcontracts widely used in the UK.
By Jack Butler-Kettle · Updated
Guidance for England and Wales. Check the contract, amendments and facts that apply to your job.
What it means in practice
Read this alongside JCT's contract families.
JCT publishes different contract families for different procurement arrangements. A main contract and a subcontract are separate documents, and the form name is only the starting point. Edition, selected options, particulars and amendments can change the obligations that matter to your work.
Read the complete agreement rather than relying on familiarity with the JCT label. A pre-signing contract review can examine the proposed package terms.
Worked example
The facts
A specialist receives a subcontract described in an email as standard JCT.
What happens
It identifies the precise form and edition from the documents.
It reads the amendment schedule alongside the printed clauses and package particulars.
What this shows
The actual obligations are established from the agreed document set, not the description used in the covering email.
Sources
- JCT construction contract families. The Joint Contracts Tribunal.