The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
At issue was whether clause 8.9.4 allowed termination for a repeated default ‘for any reason’ without a prior accrued right under clause 8.9.3. The court held the latter was the ‘gateway’: clause 8.9.4 is ‘parasitic’ on 8.9.3. An employer must first fail to cure a specified default before repetition can justify termination.
The ruling reinforces that standard forms should be interpreted consistently and that autonomy has limits. For contractors, the outcome may feel ‘less extreme’, but it narrows practical leverage against persistent late payers.
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