JCT Construct FAQ

The JCT Construct FAQ will help explain some of the key features of the Construct service. Just click on a question below to open up the answer. For detailed information on using the JCT Construct service, be sure to have a look at the user guide or how-to videos.

• How do I access JCT Construct?

  Log into your account at www.jctltd.co.uk/login and click on Access my JCT Construct. 

• What are the system's requirements to use the service?

  The service is browser-based and is compatible with the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge, Internet Explorer and Edge Chromium. Old versions that are not supported are no longer tested. Please update your browser. JavaScript must be enabled for the application to work.

• Can more than one user use the same login?

  As per the terms and conditions, users are not permitted to share their access to the service. By sharing access it is possible your document(s) may become corrupted. Please register each end user with their own login details.

• Which contracts are available on JCT Construct?

  All the 2016 edition contracts are editable. Watermarked copies of the 2011, 2009 and 1998 contracts are available for reference.

• How do I fill in a JCT Construct contract?

  Log into your account at www.jctltd.co.uk/login and click on Access My JCT Construct. Select a contract from the list in Start a new document. Click Start document and the contract will open with a Question and Answer (Q&A) screen on the left and a Preview panel on the right. Fill in the answers to the Q&As on the left and your answers will populate the preview on the right. When you exit the contract it will be saved in Documents in progress.

• Do I have to answer every question?

  No. You will only be asked relevant questions based on your answers to previous questions. We recommend completing the Q&A sequentially before editing the contract in the Preview Screen. Some questions are mandatory; these are marked with a red asterisk. You will need to answer the mandatory questions in order to finalise your contract.

• What do the colours mean in the Progress Toolbar/ Question Summary?

  Grey = group of questions not viewed. Once viewed they will turn red or green.

  Red = mandatory questions viewed but not answered. These must be answered in order to finalise the contract.

  Green = for non-mandatory questions this group of questions have been viewed. These may be left unanswered - the contract can still be finalised. For mandatory questions this group of questions have been answered.

• Why can’t I click on the grey panels in the Progress Toolbar/ Question Summary?

  Grey panels indicate groups of questions which have not been viewed in the Q&A and are therefore not clickable in the progress toolbar. To view these in the Q&A, click on the preceding question group and click Next.

• Where are the page numbers?

  Page numbers are not shown in the Preview but will appear in the document when printed.

• Why am I being asked to enter a section identifier?

  Some contracts will ask the question in Recitals: “Are the Works divided into Sections?” If you selected “Yes” you will be asked to enter a list of Section identifiers later in the Contract Particulars. If this was a mistake, you can go back to the original question in the Recitals and select “No”. 

• How do I insert an alternative currency symbol?

  To insert a currency symbol other than £, €, $, you can copy and paste from Microsoft Word. Do not copy and paste from a webpage as this may introduce unknown code to the system, causing errors.

• How do I generate a draft contract?

  Click Download in Documents in progress and click the top PDF icon Download to PDF to generate your draft contract in pdf format. For the purposes of transparency, the contract creator is required to provide a comparison document alongside the draft contract when circulating to third parties. The comparison document shows the differences between your document and the published version. See How do I generate a comparison document.

  The header contains the version details (i.e. date and time (UTC)) of your document.

• How do I generate a comparison document?

  Click Download in Documents in progress and click the icon for Show document changes to download a PDF of the comparison document which shows the differences between your document and the published version. The comparison document will be updated each time you return to the questions and answers or make changes in the Preview screen. When the contract is finalised the comparison document is added to the end of the final contract in a single PDF file. For the purposes of transparency, the contract creator is required to provide the comparison document and the contract to the counterparty.

  The header contains the version details (i.e. date and time (UTC)) of your document.

• Can I view earlier versions of my contract?

  Yes, you will be able to view earlier versions, and revert to them, in Version history. To view when each version of your contract was created, click History in Documents in progress. Each version is identified by its date and time (UTC).

• How do I generate a final version of my contract?

  Once all mandatory questions (marked with a red asterisk) have been answered the Finalise button will become active. Once you click Finalise, the file will be locked and no further changes can be made. Click Export in Documents in progress and click the top PDF icon Export to PDF to generate your final contract in pdf format (draft watermark is removed).

• The “Finalise” button is active but my contract is not showing as 100% complete. Why?

  You do not have to complete the entire Q&A to be able to finalise your contract, only the mandatory questions (indicated by a red asterisk). Your contract will only show as 100% complete when you have viewed the Q&A in full. If it is less than 100% complete it means there are questions you haven’t looked at. We always recommend completing the Q&A from start to finish to ensure that you have comprehensively covered all areas of the contract.

• How can I check whether a contract is a genuine JCT contract?

  A unique contract ID is located in the header of each contract produced from the online service. This enables contracting parties to check it is a genuine JCT contract. The contract search tool is available on   the JCT website at www.jctltd.co.uk/jct-on-demand/contract-checker.

• Can I share my draft contract with another party?

  There are two ways to share your draft contract with another party, depending if you want to allow them to edit the contract, or to read only. To invite other parties to view and edit your contract, click on Sharing in Documents in progress and then click Add party. After completing the details, Click to email details to invitee. Guests will be given access to the latest version of your contract. Please note if you are sharing your document with multiple guests and it is edited by one guest, the amended version (i.e. the latest version) will be accessed by the other guests. An email will be sent to notify you once the guest has finished viewing or editing the document.

  If you don’t want to allow the other party to edit the contract, you have the option to generate a draft contract and email it to the other party in a non-editable pdf format. For the purposes of transparency, the comparison document must accompany the draft contract. The header contains the version details (i.e. date and time (UTC)) of your document.

• As a guest user, the link to “Show document changes” is not working

  If you are using a Chrome browser you must allow pop-ups.

• I’ve forgotten my password

  Please go to www.jctltd.co.uk/login/forgotten-password and request a new password to be sent to your registered email address.

• How do I remove the draft watermark?

  The draft watermark will be removed when you have answered all the mandatory questions (these have a red asterisk before the question) and you finalise your contract. Once you finalise your contract no further amendments can be made.

• Can I amend the contract?

  Yes, you can edit/add/delete the text of the JCT contract directly in the Preview screen. For the best user experience, we strongly recommend completing the Q&A sequentially before editing any text in the Preview.

  The Editing Toolbar at the top of the Preview screen has a Styles drop-down menu from which you can select preset heading and text styles. It also gives you options to implement bold/italic/underline, insert page breaks, amend tables, and change levels of indentation.

  For a video tutorial on how to change a paragraph style, click here.

• How do I add a new paragraph/Article/Recital?

  To add a new paragraph, place your cursor at the end of the previous paragraph or at the start of the following paragraph and press the Return key. The style will automatically be inserted based on the style where the cursor was placed. To change it, select a style from the Styles drop-down menu (top left of Preview screen); or use the Indent/Outdent buttons (at the top of the Preview screen). Where applicable, paragraph numbering will automatically update and this will carry through to cross-references in JCT text (except for Section numbers) and the Table of Contents. The same principle applies to adding a new Article/Recital. Note however that Recitals cannot be renumbered, therefore it is advised to only add new Recitals at the end of the Recitals.

  For a video tutorials on how to add new paragraphs/Articles/Recitals, click here.

  If you want to maintain the JCT numbers in the published version, use the “Main text” style and apply bold for the new heading, typing in your new paragraph number manually. The table of contents is not updated when adding paragraphs using this method.

• How do I add a new Section within Conditions?

  Follow the same steps as adding a new paragraph, but note that cross-references to Sections are not updated.

• How do I add to an existing numbered paragraph?

  Place your cursor at the end of a paragraph in the numbered list and press the Return key. The new numbered paragraph will be on the next line. Any succeeding numbers will automatically update. Note, however, to add a new point 1, you will need to press Return at the beginning of the paragraph text taking care not to remove the cross-reference anchor (shown by a red rectangle).

  For a video tutorial on how to change the level of a numbered paragraph, click here.

• How do I delete a paragraph?

  Select the paragraph and press the Backspace or Delete key. If you delete an entire paragraph (including the paragraph number), subsequent paragraphs will be renumbered, and cross-references will automatically update.

  If the paragraph contains a Cross-reference Anchor (shown as a red rectangle) that provides cross-references elsewhere in this document, the Cross-reference Anchor Warning will pop-up to let you know that if you proceed with the deletion, dependent cross-references will show an Error! message. You will need to locate and update the references to the deleted paragraph appropriately.

  If you want to delete the text of the paragraph but retain the paragraph number and cross-references, take care not to delete the cross-reference anchors (shown by a red rectangle).

  For a video tutorial on how to delete a paragraph, click here.

• Removing paragraph numbers after an uneditable heading

  In some instances, you may not be able to delete a paragraph number that appears after an uneditable heading. To remove these numbers, restyle the paragraph numbers as a non-numbered style (such as ‘Main text’).

• Can I reuse a contract?

  Yes, contracts can be duplicated both before and after finalising, for use on other projects. Click on Duplicate in Documents in progress.

• I am being charged to finalise my contract. How do I pay?

  There is a fee for finalising a contract, notified in a pop-up box when you click the Finalise button. You will receive an invoice from Thomson Reuters for payment.

• Why is there an “Upgrade” option next to my contract?

  JCT contract templates are updated periodically. When a new version is available, the option to upgrade your contracts-in-progress will become available. If you choose to upgrade, answers you have input into the Q&A will be preserved, however any edits you have made directly in the Preview screen will be lost.

• Which jurisdictions do JCT contracts apply to?

  JCT contracts have been written for England and Wales. Customers may amend the contract to suit their local jurisdiction.

• How can I access my CD files once the CD is no longer supported?

  At some point in the near future the CD will be withdrawn from sale and will no longer be supported. If you wish to retain a reference copy of a draft or final contract from the CD please print a copy for your records. It is not possible to migrate the file from the CD to the replacement JCT Construct service.

• How can I sign my contract using a digital signature?

  The service was designed for users to print out hard copies and sign with wet signatures. Although not endorsed by the JCT and not part of the online service, it is possible to use third-party digital signature providers such as DocuSign. Users will need to have their own subscription. The PDFs are not compatible with AdobeSign.

• The PDF is password protected. What is the password?

  The PDF is password protected so that no untracked changes can be made to the contract. If you need to amend the contract once finalised, you can print and amend by hand. If you need to combine the contract with other documentation, you can print and assemble the hard copies.