Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Sub-contracting definition

What does Sub-contracting mean? Sub-contracting is the practice by which a main contractor engages a third party (a sub-contractor) to perform part of the works under a building or engineering contract. It is a descriptive contractual concept rather than a single statutory term, though construction contracts legislation applies to sub-contracts, particularly on payment and adjudication: Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (as amended) in England & Wales and Scotland; Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997; and the Construction Contracts Act 2013 in Ireland. Key legal features include: - The main contractor remains liable to the employer for performance and risk allocation, despite any sub-contract. - Standard...

Sub-contracting on UK construction projects: employer–contractor–sub-contractor relationships, liabilities, collateral warranties, and standard forms (JCT, NEC, FIDIC, PPC2000)

Published by a LexisNexis Construction expert

Practice notes

Among the primary issues for any developer procuring works in the UK is selecting the contractor. The chosen Procurement route will in turn ultimately dictate precisely how much risk and responsibility the contractor assumes. Yet, whatever the procurement approach, a common pattern in the UK construction sector is that the contractor typically sub-contracts out discrete parts (sometimes the entirety) of the duties it has accepted. The developer, as employer, and the contractor then enter a detailed, formal building contract (the main contract) that captures their agreed risk allocation. That contract also specifies, with clarity, the exact scope of works and design the employer expects the contractor to perform and stand behind, in exchange for the Contract sum. Unless the contractor is engaged for bespoke expertise or attributes (situations in which Sub-contracting would be strictly barred), it is usual practice for the contractor to decide which work packages should be let to specialist sub-contractors. Ordinarily, it will then put in place a direct sub-contract with each such sub-contractor so that, for an agreed price, they deliver a defined share of the obligations and responsibilities relating to the relevant works and design, reflecting the risk allocation and procurement route, that the contractor...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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