You will have read or heard that the JCT 2016 Edition of contracts has been withdrawn, but JCT 2016 contracts are still available to buy under a ‘transitionary period’ until the end of 2026.
What does this mean?
As of 31 March 2026, the JCT 2016 Edition was officially withdrawn, superseded by the current JCT 2024 Edition. This means that the JCT 2016 Edition is now out of date.
For new projects, or schemes yet to go out for tender, JCT recommends using contracts from the JCT 2024 Edition at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure that your contract is up to date with current legislation, compliance, and best practice.
What about the transitionary period?
JCT recognises that, whilst the 2016 Edition was withdrawn on 31 March, projects will have just started, or be in progress, on 2016 contracts. As well as the choice of main contract at Tier-1, it has a knock-on effect throughout the supply chain at Tier-2 and 3, where if a JCT 2016 main contract is used, the corresponding JCT 2016 sub-contracts will also need to be adopted.
Therefore, the transitionary period – set until 31 December 2026 – is designed to assist the industry to complete projects that have already started, or have been tendered on, JCT 2016 contracts.
What are your options?
JCT 2016 contracts will continue to be made available in hardcopy only whilst stocks last, and then digitally only thereafter – via JCT On Demand or JCT Construct – until the end of the transitionary period.
JCT recommends that:
- If your choice of procurement route/main contract has yet to be decided, you use contracts from the 2024 Edition.
- If you do require 2016 Edition contracts (main contracts or sub-contracts) for your project, you purchase them and any ancillary documents as soon as possible, to make sure you have the required documents before the end of the transitionary period.
Once the transitionary period is over, JCT 2016 contracts will no longer be available to buy in any format. Subscribers to the JCT Construct service will be able to replicate and reuse contracts based on their existing 2016 boilerplates to start new projects but will not be able to start any new projects based on blank 2016 templates.
Looking for more information about JCT 2024?
Find out more about JCT 2024 and using JCT Construct with our range of resources below:
