YPG Member Spotlight Questionnaire: Zoë Deckker

/ Interviews, JCT Young Professionals Group

Title or occupation: Solicitor How long have you been a YPG member: Two years   Professional Spotlight 1. Tell us a bit about your background; what is your current role, and why did you decide on a career in the construction industry? I am a Solicitor in the Construction team at Edwin Coe LLP. Coming from a family of Architects and Architectural Historians, I have always been very interested in the built environment – which I realise is a hugely broad term! From the very…

Increasing Knowledge and Closing the Skills Gap in Construction Contract Administration

/ Education, Skills and Students, Uncategorized

Blog Author: Peter Hibberd – Past JCT Chair A knowledge and skills gap The UK construction industry has for some time been concerned with shortages in skilled labour. Recent evidence such as the RICS Surveying skills report 2025 shows the problem extends beyond just site operations, which is the primary focus of the Skills policy in England report (2025). A less visible – yet increasingly critical – gap is opening in professional competencies, particularly those in project and contract administration. A gap that will be…

Shoemakers Museum, Street, Somerset

/ Case Studies

In the heart of Street, a new cultural landmark has risen to celebrate 200 years of one of Britain’s most recognisable footwear brands. The Shoemakers Museum, commissioned to mark the bicentenary of Clarks, is more than an archive and exhibition space. It is a carefully crafted statement about place, heritage and the enduring relationship between industry and community. The project was built on a JCT Standard Building Contract. The significance of Clarks to Street and the wider Somerset area cannot be overstated. Founded in 1825,…

JCT Training – Online Resources for Construction Professionals

/ Education, Skills and Students

Learn about JCT Contracts from your desktop with our online courses and video modules The Spring 2026 series of JCT Training is underway, but there is still chance to book a place on one of our online training courses. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about the JCT Design and Build Contract 2024 and the JCT Minor Works Building Contract 2024. The sessions to take place and the dates are as follows: Online courses Wednesday, 22 April 2026 JCT Design and Build Contract 2024…

Why Pre-Construction Services Agreements are Becoming a Strategic Tool in Delivery

/ Contractual Issues

Blog Editor: James Rivers, Operations Health and Safety Director, Churngold Construction Pre-Construction Services Agreements (PCSAs) are no longer a niche procurement route reserved for complex projects; they are increasingly becoming a strategic tool for managing risk, cost and programme certainty in today’s construction environment. As development sites become more constrained, regulated and technically demanding, early contractor involvement is often the difference between a buildable scheme and one that struggles to progress. At its simplest, a PCSA is a formal agreement that appoints a contractor to…

JCT Interviews…Evelyn Scott

/ Interviews

JCT Interviews…Evelyn Scott In the ‘JCT Interviews…’ series we shine the spotlight on some of the key people who are involved with or give their time to support JCT, showing the diverse range of disciplines across the construction industry that our members represent and the collaborative work that contributes to the development of our contracts. We look at how our interviewees contribute to JCT specifically and gain their views on the wider industry and JCT’s role within it. Evelyn Scott member, JCT Board – SBCC…

Spring 2026 Series of JCT Training Courses Announced

/ Education, Skills and Students

JCT has announced its course dates for the spring 2026 series of JCT Training. The series includes a range of full-day in-person courses and 3-hour online webinar courses. Scheduled to take place from February to May, the courses will focus on contract families from the JCT 2024 Edition of Contracts, as well as continuing a course that was introduced in the autumn 2025 series, ‘Working with JCT Contracts 2024 (The Legal Aspects)’, an interactive course introducing the legal framework that underpins JCT contracts. The sessions…

Clauses to Help Avoid Conflict

/ Contractual Issues, JCT 2024 Edition

Blog Author: Peter Hibberd, past JCT chair Conflict and disputes in construction are never far away. Although neither should arise in a perfect world, JCT provides for what appears inevitable, whilst seeking to avoid them. Since its inception, JCT has sought to minimise conflict and disputes by providing clear, fair contract provisions that assist administration and help reduce misunderstandings. Matters integral to conflict and dispute avoidance. JCT 2024 continues this objective, where the provisions ‘collaborative working’ and ‘notification and negotiation of disputes’, originally introduced as…

Visitor Centre, Ightham Mote, Kent

/ Case Studies

Set within a fold of the Kent Downs, the recent improvements at Ightham Mote have required an unusually careful balancing act. The project included a new visitor centre and shop, a series of landscaping and sustainable drainage solutions, and new parking, and was built on a JCT Design and Build Contract. The medieval manor house – a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument of international importance – is one of the most complete survivals of its type in England. Any contemporary intervention, therefore, had…

The JCT Design and Build Contract (2024 Edition) – A Year On

/ Contractual Issues, JCT 2024 Edition

Blog Author: Seán Mac Labhraí Introduction We are now over a year since the JCT published the first of the 2024 suite of contracts: the Design and Build Contract, or DB24. Working for a main contractor specialising in design and build, we are now beginning to see a more widespread adoption of DB24 by employers / clients and their consultants, perhaps expedited by the JCT’s upcoming withdrawal of the 2016 editions. (I have been meaning to check with a solicitor who was still firmly wedded…