Contract terms for construction contracts
This article lists the terms that are commonly referred to in a construction contract. In some cases different contracts may use different terms, where this is the case, alternatives are shown.
NB The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Glossary of procurement terms, suggests the contract term (or contract period) can also refer to: ‘…the length of time during which the contract operates... It begins with the START DATE and ends with the EXPIRY DATE. The start date is not necessarily the date on which the contract is signed, but the date on which it comes into effect. The expiry date may be expressed as an actual calendar date (preferred) or as a given number of months (e.g., 36 months) from the start date.’
- Application for payment (see fair payment practices)
- Architect's instruction / contract administrator's instruction
- Bill of quantities
- Bond
- Building log book
- Building owner's manual / operation and maintenance manual (O&M manual)
- Building users guide
- Certificate of making good defects / certificate of making good
- Collateral warranty
- Construction phase plan
- Contract sum analysis
- Contractor design
- Contractor’s master programme
- Contractor’s proposals
- Default payment notice (see fair payment practices)
- Contract drawings
- Design documents
- Disputes
- Employers requirements
- Extensions of time
- Final account
- Final certificate
- Governing law
- Health and safety file
- Information release schedule
- Insurance
- Interim certificate
- Joint fire code
- Loss and expense
- Method statement
- Pay less notice (see fair payment practices)
- Parent company guarantee
- Payment notice (see fair payment practices)
- Performance bond
- Practical completion certificate / substantial completion certificate
- Preliminaries
- Retention
- Risk assessment
- Schedule of defects
- Schedule of work
- Site waste management plan
- Specification
- Strikes and lock outs
- Termination
- VAT
Featured articles and news
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.