Standard Forms of Contracts and the intricacies of Force Majeure in Demystifying Unexpected Events in Construction Projects

This study examined the effectiveness of standard forms of contracts in managing the consequences of unexpected events in construction projects from the UK perspective. In this study, unexpected events are restricted to those that affect the whole UK construction industry, such as COVID-19 or the war in Ukraine, which have affected supply chains. No obvious clauses and provisions exist in the standard forms of construction contracts such as JCT and to date, there has been no construction-related decision from the courts. Current contractual provisions were examined to assess if they are straightforward to implement when relief from the impact of unexpected events is required. This investigation concluded that the NEC 4 provisions appear straightforward to implement and likely to apply to various unexpected events. However, the JCT 2016 force majeure provisions have led to widespread confusion. Although the current opinion is that COVID19 is likely to fall under force majeure due to the widespread impact this event had, for other events such as war in Ukraine or supply chain difficulties, the situation remains unclear.