In 2000 the Joint Building Contracts Committee launched the Series 2000 version of the JBCC contracts. Since then the contract has undergone a number of revisions, most recently in March of 2005. The contract is widely used in South Africa and the Committee reports that it sells in the region of 500 copies of the Principal Agreement per month. The JBCC contract is recognised by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) as one of the four contracts for use in public sector contracts in South Africa and it has been adopted by many government and private sector agencies undertaking building work. The contract is not without its critics, however, and some argue that the contract has been changed too often since its publication in 2000.

In this one day seminar we consider key provisions in the JBCC contracts and discuss both the positive aspects of the contracts and the flaws to watch out for. This is not a clause by clause analysis of the contracts. Rather, the seminar considers areas that may create risk, areas that are dealt with in a particularly good or in an unusual manner, and areas that delegates should be alive to when working with the contracts. Material is presented in an interactive manner, through case studies and practical examples.

Some of the issues to be considered include the following:
- Projects for which the JBCC is suitable for use and projects for which some other contract may be better suited;
- The structure and format of the JBCC contract with particular focus on the approach taken to contracts with the state;
JBCC Series 2000
Edition 4.1 March 2005 – page 2
- Subcontracting under the JBCC contract;
- Payment mechanisms under the JBCC contract;
- Dispute resolution with a particular focus on the new adjudication provisions;
- Stages of completion with particular focus on hand over;
- Liability for latent defects;
- Claims for additional time;
- Claims for additional money;
- The role of the Principal Agent
- The recent edition of JBCC documents in 2007