1st edition, guidance note This guidance note aims to ...

1 ContractadministrationRICS Practice Standards, UK1st edition, guidance noteContract administration1st edition, guidance noteThis guidance note aims to provide practical guidance to RICS members in England and Wales who undertake the role of contractadministrator ( CA ).The role of the CA covers a wide range of possible services andprojects from the smallest residential scheme through to largercommercial projects. The guidance note covers the following guidance : Appointing a contract administrator Roles and responsibilities of a contract administrator Appendices containing useful checklists and office 69/2011 Contract administrationRICS guidance note1st edition (GN 69/2011)Published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

2 Surveyor CourtWestwood Business ParkCoventry CV4 responsibility for loss or damage caused to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material included in this publication canbe accepted by the authors or by the Building surveying Professional Group of the Royal Institution of Chartered 978 1 84219 666 3 Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) April 2011. Copyright in all or part of this publication rests with RICS, and save by prior consentof RICS, no part or parts shall be reproduced by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, now known or to be in Great Britain by Columns Design XML Ltd, Reading, BerksPrinted in Great Britain by Annodata Print services , Dunstable, BedsAcknowledgmentsThe development of the RICS Contract administration guidance note was facilitated by RICS BuildingSurveying Professional Group under the direction of the Working members of the Working Group formed to oversee drafting were.

3 Lead authorTerry Northwood BSc (Hons) FRICS, Northwood Collings LtdWorking groupIan Haywood BSc (Hons) MRICS, Property Tectonics LimitedAndrew Loveland BSc (Hons) MRICS, King Sturge LLP Building ConsultancyDouglas Field, Community Solutions for Primary CareRoland Finch BSc FRICS ACIArb, NBSIan Bull MRICS, Galliford Try Construction LimitedDuncan Salmon, Speechly Bircham LLPJohn Parsons, RICSThe Working Group expresses its thanks to the RICS members, for their co-operation and advice in thedetailed consultations that have taken ADMINISTRATION| iiiContentsRICS guidance notes11 is a contract administrator? used / definitions32 role of the contract of basic responsibilities of the contract contract administrator and of the contract administrator53 Appointment of the contract of contract administrator as an employee74 Roles and responsibilities of a contract Initial General Site Reporting to the client / Clients / employers Interim valuation of the Contract instructions / Contract completion date, extensions of time.

4 Early or partial possession andpractical Loss and Adjusted contract sum / final Administration / insolvency of the the Terms of Overall budget total project Compliance with the specification of Health and The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations Means of escape in case of Environmental Statutory Consents, licences, |CONTRACT Letters of The Housing, Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 199622 AppendicesA Checklists23B Office administrative procedures26C References27 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION|vvi |CONTRACT ADMINISTRATIONRICS guidance notesThis is a guidance note.

5 It provides advice toRICS members on aspects of their work. Whereprocedures are recommended for specificprofessional tasks, these are intended torepresent best practice , procedures whichin the opinion of RICS meet a high standard ofprofessional members are not required to follow theadvice and recommendations contained in thenote, they should note the following an allegation of professional negligence ismade against a surveyor, a court or tribunal is likelyto take account of the contents of any relevantguidance notes published by RICS in decidingwhether or not the member had acted withreasonable the opinion of RICS.

6 A member conforming tothe practices recommended in this note shouldhave at least a partial defence to an allegation ofnegligence if they have followed those , members have the responsibility ofdeciding when it is inappropriate to follow , it does not follow that members willbe found negligent if they have not followed thepractices recommended in this note. It is for eachsurveyor to decide on the appropriate procedure tofollow in any professional task. However, wheremembers do not comply with the practicerecommended in this note, they should do so onlyfor a good reason. In the event of a legal dispute, acourt or tribunal may require them to explain whythey decided not to adopt the recommendedpractice.

7 Also, if members have not followed thisguidance, and their actions are questioned in anRICS disciplinary case, they will be asked toexplain the actions they did take and this may betaken into account by the Panel. In addition, guidance notes are relevant to professionalcompetence in that each member should be up-to-date and should have knowledge of guidance noteswithin a reasonable time of their coming into ADMINISTRATION|11 purpose of this guidance note is to providepractical guidance to RICS members in Englandand Wales who undertake the role of contractadministrator (CA).The role of the CA covers a wide range of possibleservices and projects from the smallest residentialscheme through to larger commercial responsibilities of the CA will be defined by theform of building contract and the professionalappointment under which the CA is appointed.

8 Asthe majority of surveyors only deal with small tomedium sized contracts, this guidance note willconcentrate on the role of CA at this level; and inparticular within the provisions of contracts issuedby the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT minor works,intermediate and standard building contracts). Inaddition, many of the principles set out in thisguidance note will also apply where no standardform of contract has been entered into, particularlyfor smaller works. While the guidance note doesnot deal with full design and build contracts, theissue of the employer s responsibility for design this basis it should be noted that this guidancenote does not cover other forms of JCT contract,GC works, BPF/NEC or ICE forms, other than todistinguish the role of the CA.

9 It also does not dealwith the responsibilities of employers representatives under design and buildarrangements, where the responsibility is to actexclusively in the interests of the employer, albeithonestly and with is a contractadministrator?The role of CA in a wide sense has been inexistence on building projects for centuries,although the term was not formally introduced untilamendment 4 to the JCT 1980 form in role involves managing the contract betweenthe employer and building contractor. This is a rolethat was historically performed by the architect;and in fact, the JCT form refers to architect/contract administrator , indicating that for thepurpose of the role identified in the JCT forms thereis no contractual difference between the two the role of CA can be undertaken by severalpossible professionals, with the architecttraditionally filling the role, the scope of who can bethe CA has widened to include building surveyors, quantity surveyors, management surveyors andengineers.

10 Sometimes this can lead to blurring ofthe roles of members of the professional |CONTRACT used/definitionsIn this guidance note, the following terms and expressions shall have the following meanings:CAcontract administrator, appointed by an employer to administer the contractbetween the employer and the contractcontract between the employer and contractor, whether or not in writing or in astandard form. This guidance note refers to the following JCT standard forms:+Minor Works Building Contract 2005 Edition (MW)+Intermediate Building Contract 2005 Edition (IC)+Intermediate Building Contract 2005 with contractors design (ICD)+Standard Building Contract 2005 Edition (SBC)contractorbuilding contractor engaged by the employer to undertake construction works andoperations on behalf of the (s) or practice(s) employed to design the works being undertaken by thecontractor.