a Payment notice for the purposes of the Construction Act . The employer must pay the sum certified unless a Pay less notice has been served in accordance with the Construction Act . JCT – an acronym for the Joint Contracts Tribunal, a body established in 1931 by a number of construction industry participants for the purpose of producing a standard building contract form. It is now a limited company producing a range of contracts, which are the most widely used standard forms in the UK. Joint and several liability – in construction this most frequently arises in the context of design teammembers. If two or more of the design team have caused the same damage as a result of negligence, breach of contract, or both, then the employer may claim the whole loss from a single design teammember, who may in turn claim a contribution from others who are jointly and severally liable, under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978. A Net contribution clause is designed to reverse the effects of this doctrine. Jurisdiction – the authority of a court, arbitral tribunal or adjudicator to hear and decide disputes or other legal issues. Arbitrators and adjudicators only have jurisdiction to decide the particular matters referred to them for decision. The jurisdiction of the High Court is unlimited in relation to the value and subject matter of claims and its authority to exercise a full range of powers in relation to, for example, enforcement. In its wider sense, jurisdiction may describe the geographical region over which a court’s authority extends, for example, the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Letter of intent – a letter from one party (often the employer) to another party (often the contractor) confirming a temporary arrangement for the undertaking of certain
are met. Conditional payments are prohibited. It also provides adjudication as a 28 day procedure for resolving payment disputes. It was amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 .
Implied term – a termwhich has not been expressly agreed between the parties, and is implied into a contract by the court or by legislation.
The court may imply a term based on custom, previous course of dealings or the intention of the parties. Statute implies certain terms into construction contracts, for example regarding the quality of goods and materials, under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. The Construction Act also implies terms regarding the payment regime operated by the parties, the right to adjudicate and other key requirements. Indemnity – an indemnity is an agreement by one party to reimburse the other party should the latter party incur a particular loss or legal liability contemplated by the contract. For example, the JCT forms of contract provide that the contractor will indemnify the employer in relation to injury or death caused to any person or damage caused to any property by the carrying out of the contract works. Innominate term – a contract termwhich is neither a Condition nor a Warranty . The remedy for breaching such a termwill depend on the effect of the breach – if it substantially deprives the innocent party of the benefit of the whole of the contract, it will be treated as a breach of a Condition (meaning the innocent party is entitled to terminate the contract). If not, then the remedy will be as for a breach of Warranty . Interim certificate – a certificate issued at regular intervals (often monthly) during the course of a construction project confirming the valuation of the works and the amount due to the contractor, after deducting amounts previously certified for payment, and normally
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