The Construction Act

The Construction Act — shorthand for Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, as amended in 2009 — is the statutory floor beneath payment and adjudication rights on UK construction contracts.

Where it sits: HGCRA 1996, Part II, as amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. The Scheme for Construction Contracts fills any gaps.

Everything in the payment cycle that parties argue about — applications, notices, due dates, pay less, suspension for non-payment — and the right to adjudicate at any time rest on this Act. Contract terms that try to contract out of it are void, and the Scheme rides in to replace them.

The 2009 amendments did most of their work on notices: pay when certified clauses died, and the pay less notice became the make-or-break document it is today. If you work in construction commercial, you live inside this Act whether you have read it or not; reading it is cheaper.

Related: adjudication · pay less notice · payment notice

→ Adjudication: Enforcing Your Rights Under the Construction Act