Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Building Contract definition

What does Building Contract mean? A building contract is the agreement under which an employer engages a contractor to carry out and complete building works, often called the main contract where subcontractors are appointed. The term is descriptive rather than statutory, but most building contracts fall within legislation on “construction contracts” (England & Wales and Scotland: Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, as amended; Northern Ireland: Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997; Ireland: Construction Contracts Act 2013), particularly for payment and adjudication. Typical features include: scope and specification of the works; allocation of design responsibility; price and payment (lump sum, measurement, cost-reimbursable...

SBCC standard building contracts under Scots law: key differences from JCT, including contract families, arbitration, adjudication, off-site materials, retention, execution, enforcement, prescription and third-party rights

Published by a LexisNexis Construction expert

Practice notes

Practice Note

This Practice Note reviews the SBCC standard forms and highlights how they differ from JCT contracts. The Scottish Building Contract Committee’s strategy is to keep arrangements as consistent across the UK as possible, adopting JCT formats wherever feasible. Nonetheless, Scotland’s distinct legal system means certain differences in treatment remain.

Accordingly, the SBCC editions adjust the JCT wording to reflect Scots law and terminology, without shifting the risk allocation or, in general, introducing other substantive changes. They mirror JCT colour bands, section titles and clause numeration and, where practicable, retain JCT naming conventions and dates.

The SBCC suite is now issued as a single consolidated document, removing the need—unlike the former JCT 80 and 98 arrangements—to read a separate Scottish supplement alongside the JCT form. The 2016 suite appeared in two stages:

Minor Works family, together with the Short-form Subcontract and Sub-subcontract, in December 2016;
Standard Building and Design and Build families in November 2017...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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