Contract Assistant
Contract questions, answered per contract.
The things contractors actually ask about the standard SA construction contracts — compensation events, extensions of time, payment, notices. Pick your contract. General guidance, not legal advice.
NEC3
7 answersProgramme-driven, collaborative. Common on SA infrastructure and public-sector works.
Open →JBCC
6 answersThe South African building contract. Traditional, procedural, well-tested.
Open →GCC 2015
6 answersThe civil-engineering standard. Common on public-sector and municipal infrastructure.
Open →FIDIC
6 answersThe international standard. Seen on donor-funded and large cross-border SA infrastructure.
Open →Setout doesn’t sell the NEC3, JBCC, GCC or FIDIC contracts themselves — those come from their publishers. What we offer is answers to common questions about them, plus editable administration template packs that work alongside the official forms. General guidance, not legal advice, and no substitute for the contract and its amendments on your project.
Which contract you are likely to meet
The CIDB recognises four families of standard contract for public-sector construction, and the private sector uses the same forms. Which one you meet depends mostly on the client and the type of work:
- JBCC is the usual form for building work in the private sector: houses, offices, retail and residential developments. The Principal Agent, usually the architect, administers it.
- NEC3 is widely used by state-owned companies, metros and other public bodies, for both building and civil work. A Project Manager administers it, and its programme and early-warning procedures need active management from both sides.
- GCC 2015, published by SAICE, is the traditional form for civil engineering work in the public sector, such as roads, water and sanitation. An Engineer administers it.
- FIDIC is the international family, common on large infrastructure and on projects funded by development finance institutions. The Red, Yellow and Silver Books place design responsibility differently, so the colour matters.
Notice periods decide most disputes
Every one of these contracts gives the contractor rights to more time and money, and every one makes those rights depend on notices given in time. Under NEC3, a compensation event the contractor should have notified loses its protection if it is not notified within eight weeks of the contractor becoming aware of it. FIDIC 2017 requires notice of a claim within 28 days. JBCC and GCC 2015 have their own notice and submission periods, some counted in working days and some in calendar days. Know the periods for your contract on day one, put them in a register, and give notice even when the client says not to worry about it.
Read the amendments
Standard forms are rarely used unchanged. NEC contracts carry Z-clauses, JBCC contracts carry amendments in the contract data, and public bodies often have their own standard changes. An answer here explains the standard wording; your contract may say something different. Before you rely on any general answer, check the contract data and the amendments for the clause in question.