Partnering - was marriage so bad after all?

Alan Jenkins

March 2006

A paper based on talks given to the Society of Construction Law in Southampton on 7th June and Oxford on 23rd November 2005.

Marriage has become less popular than the more informal 'living together': does the movement away from formal contractual relationships in construction towards partnering and collaborative relationships respond to the same need? Alan Jenkins argues that the analogy is not exact: partnering and innovative approaches to procurement attempt to link the parties together more effectively and productively, not less; and contractual structures can certainly play a part in this. He reviews the large number of new contractual initiatives since Latham and Egan and identifies their special features.

Spouse or partner? - 'For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer ...' - '... to honour and protect' - 'I, M, take you, N ...' - (i) Measured term contract - (ii) Defence Estates Prime Contract - (iii) PPC2000 - (iv) NEC with Option X12 - (v) Non-binding partnering charter - (vi) The Be Collaborative Contract - Marriage of convenience? - Arranged marriages? - Hope over experience?

The author: Alan Jenkins is a quantity surveyor and Project Development Manager at Mansell Construction Services Ltd, working in the construction sector, currently specialising in construction administration and partnering development.

Text: 14 pages

PDF file size: 85k