Using the JCT Minor Works Contract

The JCT Minor Works Building Contract (MW) 2016 is the current JCT contract updated from the Minor Works Building Contract 2011.

The key revisions are:

• incorporating the provisions from the JCT Public Sector Supplement relating to fair payment, transparency and BIM;
• CDM Regulations 2015;
• consolidation of payment provisions; and
• extension of (Works) Insurance Option C.

MW 2016 is for small building works that fall below a threshold of circa £250,000; however, it is not so much the financial threshold that matters but the nature of the works. It is a simple contract and, according to its introduction, is appropriate in the following circumstances where:

• the work involved is simple in character;
• the work is designed by or on behalf of the employer;
• the employer is to provide drawings and/or a specification and/or work schedules to define adequately the quantity and quality of the work; and
• an architect or contract administrator is to administer the contract.

The contract is not suitable where:

• bills of quantities are required;
• provisions are required to govern work carried out by named specialists;
• detailed control procedures are needed;
• the contractor is to design discrete parts of the works, even though all the other criteria are met – see Key points for details on the Minor Works Building Contract with contractors' design (MWD).