This Practice Note explains what a smart legal contract (or smart contract) is, as a technology and as a legal instrument, and provides a summary of the Law Commission’s advice to UK government which concluded that the current legal framework in the UK is able to facilitate and support the use of smart legal contracts. It includes a breakdown of the legal principles surrounding the formation, form, formality and interpretation of contracts under UK law, and provides a comparison between the way in which those principles are applied traditionally and the way in which the Law Commission say they could apply to the main types of smart legal contract. The Practice Note includes the following sections: • What is a smart legal contract? • Distributed ledger technology (DLT) • Enforceability under UK law • The formation of smart legal contracts • Agreement (comprising an offer and acceptance) • Consideration • Certainty and completeness • Intention to create legal relations • Formality requirements—‘in writing’ • Formality requirements—‘signature’ • Can a smart legal contract be a deed? • The interpretation of smart legal contracts

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has launched updated builder contract templates following the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022). The contracts, available free to FMB members, are designed to be clear and easy to use, contrasting with longer, more complex alternatives. The templates are intended to protect homeowners while helping professional builders demonstrate their commitment to compliance and best practice. They include plain-language explanations of duty holder roles, competency statement templates and flexible payment options. Versions are tailored for all UK nations and align with the FMB Code of Conduct, which requires members to use written contracts for every job.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published a template access agreement and accompanying guidance to assist developers and responsible entities in agreeing terms for developer access to buildings covered by the Developer Remediation Contract (DRC). The template is intended to facilitate developer entry to conduct fire safety surveys and assessments required under the DRC. MHCLG notes that using the template may help expedite building assessment and remediation work, but emphasises that the materials do not constitute legal advice and advises parties intending to use the template to seek independent legal counsel.

NHS Resolution has appointed the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), Global Mediation and Trust Mediation Limited to provide claims mediation services under a new four-year contract. These organisations will deliver mediation services in partnership with NHS Resolution to assist in resolving personal injury and clinical negligence disputes. The mediation service aims to assist patients, claimants, families and NHS staff in resolving incidents and legal claims in a manner that avoids the financial and emotional costs associated with court proceedings. Despite 83% of claims against NHS providers that were settled without litigation in the 2024-25 period, NHS Resolution remains committed to further reducing the number of cases entering the formal legal processes.

An employer may suspend an employee from work on medical grounds in certain circumstances. Such suspensions must be in consequence of a requirement imposed by or under a provision of an enactment or of an instrument made under an enactment, or a recommendation in a provision of a code of practice issued or approved under section 16 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (see section 64(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996)). The relevant enactments and instruments are: • the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002, SI 2002/2676, reg 10 • the Ionising Radiations Regulation 2017, SI 2017/1075, reg 25 • the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1998, SI 2002/2677, reg 11 An employee is regarded as suspended from work on medical grounds only if and so long as they

Limitation period for contract The normal limitation period for an action based on a breach of contract is six years: section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 (LA 1980). This six-year period starts on the date on which the cause of action ‘accrued’. This is the date when the claimant could first possibly bring an action for that breach of contract against the defendant. In a claim based on a breach of contract, time runs from when the defendant breaches that contract: Gibbs v Guild. LA 1980, s 6 lifts the six year time limit in respect of certain loans if: • a contract of loan does not provide for repayment of the debt on or before a fixed or determinable date, and • does not effectively

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has published the Contract Budget Notice and accompanying explanatory note for the seventh Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round (AR7). The notice, issued under Regulation 11 of the Contracts for Difference (Allocation) Regulations 2014, establishes the overall budget and delivery parameters for offshore wind and floating offshore wind projects under AR7. The overall budget available is £1.08bn (2024 prices), comprising £900m for offshore wind (Pot 3) and £180m for floating offshore wind (Pot 4). Delivery years have been set for 2028/29 to 2030/31 (Pot 3) and 2028/29 to 2029/30 (Pot 4), with CfD support awarded for 20 years. DESNZ has also issued related statutory notices covering the pot structure and administrative strike prices (ASPs), standard terms, application window, counterparty costs, contract framework, and clean industry bonus (CIB) framework. These collectively give effect to the launch of AR7 and AR7a (the subsequent round covering non-offshore wind technologies).

A person who owns land included in a local authority's list of assets of community value must not ‘enter into a relevant disposal of the land’, unless the conditions in the LA 2011, s 95 are met, put simply: • that the local authority has been notified of the proposed sale. • that six weeks from that notification have expired without a written request having been made by a community interest group to be treated as a potential bidder. If such a request is made, six months from the owner’s notification to the local authority must have expired. If no written request is received by the local authority within the interim six week moratorium period, the landowner is free to make the relevant disposal within the period of eighteen months running from the notification date. If a written

The Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) has announced that the 2024 editions of its Construction Management (CM), Management Building (MC), Framework Agreement (FA), Adjudication Agreement (Adj), Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB), and Project Bank Account (PBA) contract families will be released on 5 March 2025.

This Practice Note brings together our content on the changes made in the 2024 editions of the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) standard form construction contracts. Publication of the 2024 editions The 2024 editions of the JCT standard form contracts were published as follows: Date Contracts published 17 April 2024 Design and Build Contract family (DB, DBSub) 15 May 2024 Minor Works Building Contract family (MW, MWD and MWSub/D)Short Form of Sub-Contract (ShortSub)Sub-subcontract (SubSub) 10 July 2024 Intermediate Building Contract family (IC, ICD, ICSub and ICSub/D) 21 August 2024 Standard Building Contract family (SBC/Q, SBC/XQ, SBC/AQ, SBCSub, SBCSub/D)Collateral Warranties (CWa/F, CWa/P&T, SCWa/F, SCWa/P&T, SCWa/E) 4 September 2024 Pre-Construction Services Agreement family (PCSA, PCSA/SP)Consultancy Agreement (CA) 2 October 2024 Repair and Maintenance Contract (RM) 16 October 2024 Major Project Construction Contract family (MP, MPSub)Prime Cost Contract (PCC)Constructing Excellence family (CE, CE/P) 5 March 2025 Construction Management Contract family (CM/A, CM/TC, CM/G, CMWa/F, CMWa/P&T, TCWa/F, TCWa/P&T)Management Building Contract family (MC, MCWC/A, MCWC/C, MCWC/E, MC/G, MCWa/F, MCWa/P&T, WCWa/F, WCWa/P&T)Framework Agreement

The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has clarified the extent of protection afforded to consumers under a loan contract repayable in a foreign currency. In its judgment regarding DP, SG v Trapeza Peiraios AE (Case C-243/20), the ECJ concluded that Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts does not preclude the adoption of national provisions ensuring a higher level of consumer protection for certain terms not falling within its scope.

Found in construction management. A contract entered into directly between the employer and a trade contractor for an element of the works.