JCT’s Construction Industry Parliamentary Reception was held at the House of Commons on Tuesday 17 May 2016, bringing together construction industry professionals, clients and government to reflect upon current issues in construction and their impact on contracts.
Introduced by JCT Chair, Richard Saxon CBE, the event was an opportunity to update delegates on some of JCT’s current activities, including work JCT is taking forward in relation to Building Information Modelling, and the forthcoming JCT 2016 Edition of contracts.
Richard Saxon said:
“We are having an eventful year, with the 2016 issue of our standard contracts in progress, family by family, from next month.
“We also have a new website and the JCT Network, an online group to improve communication between JCT and its users.
“JCT is keen on Building Information Modelling as a route to better construction performance. We recently published a bulletin on BIM Level 2 which has been very popular, and has been downloaded about 1000 times so far in UK and also abroad.
“We are extremely pleased by the government’s commitment to take BIM forward over the next five years to advance us to BIM Level 3.
“It rightly sees that, as well as improving Britain’s environment, the UK’s leading position in BIM is likely to lead to strong export prospects for our consultants, constructors and product makers. JCT’s contracts, suitably amended, are also being increasingly used abroad. JCT is working on developing the kind of contracts that Level 3 will need.”
The event, hosted by Oliver Colvile MP, also joined JCT with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment (APPGEBE). In his capacity as Chair of the APPGEBE, Oliver Colvile was able to provide an update on a forthcoming report by the APPGEBE on the quality of new-build houses in the UK.
Oliver Colvile said:
“The government has aspirations to build 200,000 homes per year over the course of this parliament. That, in my view, is a good step forward and will go a long way to combat the chronic shortage of housing in the UK.
“[…] my opinion, and that of the panel, [is that] we must ensure these new-build homes are of the highest quality and standard.
“Starting in late 2015, I chaired an enquiry into the quality of new-build homes. Four enquiry sessions took place and took evidence from house builders, consumer groups, insurance companies, and home buyers.
“Although the report hasn’t been finalised, we will be able to share a number of recommendations, including a recommendation to increase the level of standardisation of house building contracts.”
It is anticipated the APPGEBE’s report on the quality of new house building in England will be published late May/early June.
JCT contract users can keep up-to-date about the forthcoming 2016 Edition by signing up to the JCT Network at http://corporate.jctltd.co.uk/jct-network-sign-up. JCT Network members will receive first notification of the availability of the 2016 contracts, as well as exclusive information about the changes found in the new edition.