The debate on offsite construction (including the recent government consultation and select committee report) has mainly focused on perceived improvements in efficiency and safety, but there is another aspect to consider: to what extent do these methods sit uneasily with the traditional legal mechanisms by which construction contracts are regulated?

The starting point might be: does the Construction Act apply, and to what extent? By section 104(1), the act applies to “construction operations” carried out in England, Wales or Scotland; section 105 sets out an extensive list of matters included in and excluded from that definition. Important consequences follow: a contract falling outside the act will not be subject to the adjudication mechanism provided for by the Scheme for Construction Contracts, nor will the act operate to introduce mandatory minimum payment provisions where the contract fails to provide an “adequate mechanism”.

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