Richard Saxon CBE has been appointed the new chair of the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT). Richard is widely known throughout the construction industry. He is a multi-discipline practitioner, champion of collaborative working and industry reformer.
Chartered as both an architect and surveyor, for 28 years Richard was a partner/director of BDP, serving as chairman for six of those years. Following the Latham Report in 1994, Richard became involved in industry reform, chairing groups of the Construction Industry Board and leading the influential Reading Construction Forum.
He merged the Forum and the Design Build Foundation to form ‘Be: collaborating for the built environment’. JCT published its partnering contract, JCT-Constructing Excellence (CE) in 2005, recognising the later merger of ‘Be’ into Constructing Excellence. The same year, Richard edited Be valuable: a guide to creating value in the built environment, published by Constructing Excellence.
Since 2005, Richard has worked as a client and business adviser. He has served as vice president of RIBA and on the board of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) as champion for innovation. BIS commissioned him to write Growth through BIM, published by CIC in 2013. RIBA Publications has recently asked Richard to write BIM for Construction Clients.
Richard is on the Building Committee of the University of Cambridge and is a non-executive director of BLP Insurance. He was made a CBE in 2001 for services to architecture and construction.
Richard Saxon said:
“JCT has a vital role in bringing the industry together and I welcome the opportunity to be their new chair. Many of the core principles of JCT – consensus and collaboration, reform through innovation – are issues that I have been involved in for many years, so I am excited to be working with JCT as they continue to lead the industry forward.
“At the same time, chairing the UK’s largest provider of construction contracts is a change of direction for me personally, and I am looking forward to the new challenges and opportunities that the role will bring.”
JCT chief executive, Neil Gower, said:
“Richard Saxon has a long association with JCT, beginning with his delivery of the inaugural JCT Povey Lecture in 2003. In recognising Richard’s work as a multi-disciplinarian, reformer and industry leader, we feel he is an excellent representation of the values of JCT – which has always sought to bring together and reflect the views of clients and of all construction disciplines, for the benefit of the wider industry.
“We are delighted that Richard will continue his association with JCT as its new chair, and look forward to his leadership and insight as JCT moves forward over the coming years”.