The JCT form you use sets the legal relationship between client, architect and contractor for the whole of the build. Get it right and risk is allocated to whoever is best placed to carry it. Get it wrong and either the client, the architect, or the contractor is holding a risk they cannot manage.
JCT Standard Building Contract. Sometimes called 'Traditional'. Keeps design responsibility with the client's team. The architect designs, coordinates consultants and issues Architect's Instructions under the contract. The contractor builds what the drawings show. It works best when design is substantially complete at tender, the architect is experienced as Contract Administrator, and the client has appetite to carry design-related risk themselves.
JCT Design & Build transfers design responsibility to the contractor. The contractor takes on the design team (either novated from the client's original appointment, or contractor-appointed from scratch) and warrants the design outcome to the client. It works best when the client wants one accountable party for both design and build, when speed is a priority, or when the design is not yet fully resolved.
“Neither contract is universally better. The right answer turns on scope certainty, client appetite and the team appointed.”
For private residential schemes at £1m to £3m with a client-retained architect, HXL's view is that JCT Standard. With a well-drafted contract and a confident CA. Is usually the cleanest route. The architect protects the client, the drawings are the brief, and responsibilities are clear.
For developments and investor-led schemes, Design & Build is almost always preferable. The client wants one accountable contractor, predictable cost, and minimum interface risk. HXL regularly accepts novation of design teams on Design & Build schemes.
If this is your first significant build, take an hour with the appointed architect and the contractor to walk through which form suits your brief.
