A review of construction contracts commissioned by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has found that three contract forms satisfy the principles of its Achieving Excellence in Construction initiative.

Completed by Arup in September, the review found that the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) Constructing Excellence contract (JCT-CE) and the Association of Consulting Architects (ACA) Project Partnering Contract (PPC2000) both met the criteria, as well as the New Engineering Contract (NEC) Engineering and Construction contract (NEC3).

The Arup review said: "Each contract reviewed satisfies OGC's Evaluation Criteria. Each contract reviewed would enable parties, using them correctly, to achieve OGC's Achieving Excellence in Construction standards from which the Evaluation Criteria are derived.

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"No single contract is superior to the other two in all respects - each has its own strengths and weaknesses and each is highly adaptable. The difference in the way that each contract is applied by users will be at least as significant as the differences in the processes or terms and conditions provided within the contract."

The review followed an initial assessment of contract forms in 2005 by OGC itself, when only NEC3 was found to satisfy the requirements. This was before JCT-CE had been published.

Professor Peter Hibberd, Secretary-General of the JCT, said: "This is excellent news. We always knew our Constructing Excellence contract met the criteria - had it been published at the time of the first review, I am sure it would have been included.

"This latest review, conducted independently by Arup, has re-created a level playing field in terms of standard contract forms for use in the public sector."

(CD/JM)