Construction and Engineering
Contracts
CAPITAL WORKS MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
A Conditions of Engagement Fee Adjustment Factor has been published for use with the Standard Conditions of Engagement for Technical Services (COE1) and Standard Conditions of Engagement for Archaeological Services (COE2). The mechanism provides for adjustment of consultancy fees where the relevant contractual fee adjustment provisions apply. The factor for a First Adjustment Date falling in Q4 2026 is 1.027.
Guidance has been published to enable greater use of design contests (Guidance GN 1.6 Appendix 1). The guidance indicates that, rather than engaging a single design team, a design contest draws responses from multiple design teams and is judged on the best response to the project brief.
PRE-CONSTRUCTION SERVICES AGREEMENTS
In Belong (Construction) Ltd v Seddon Construction Ltd [2026] EWHC 1275 (TCC), a contractor sought an extension of time for remedial air-sealing works. The employer argued that the delay arose from the contractor’s failure to inspect and test existing works under the pre-construction services agreement (“PCSA”). The contractor maintained that it was no longer liable for that alleged failure because the relevant obligation was not included in the final building contract and the PCSA’s rights and liabilities had been subsumed into that contract.
The PCSA stated that the parties’ obligations ran until the earlier of the execution and completion of the building contract or termination of the PCSA. It stated that, on execution of the building contract, the parties’ rights and liabilities in respect of all matters with which the PCSA was concerned would be subsumed into and be subject to the Contract.
The High Court in England and Wales held that this wording preserved liability for breaches already committed under the PCSA, even where the relevant obligation was not repeated in the building contract. Ongoing performance obligations were superseded, but historic liabilities were not extinguished. That interpretation was supported by a separate clause prohibiting the employer from commencing proceedings against the contractor under the PCSA after 12 years from practical completion of all the works under the building contract.
A key takeaway is that “subsumed into and subject to” did not release historic liabilities or preserve them only where the building contract imposed an equivalent obligation. Those liabilities survived, but became subject to the building contract’s applicable terms.
While the judgment has only persuasive authority in Ireland, it is a reminder of the importance of distinguishing expressly between ongoing PCSA obligations and accrued rights and liabilities when finalising the building contract. The PCSA and building contract should be reviewed together, both during due diligence and when assessing subsequent claims.
Legislation and sustainability
BUILDING CONTROL
Amendments to the Building Control Act 1990 commenced on 1 October 2026 under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Act 2025. These amendments concern the wider building-control framework, including design certification, completion certification and the regularisation of works where required notices or fire-safety applications were not submitted. They replace references to “fire safety certificates” and “disability access certificates” with “fire safety design certificates” and “access and use design certificates”, and provide for regulations governing regularisation notices, supporting statutory declarations and completion certificates.
The changes are relevant to the certification required before buildings can be occupied or brought into use. They provide for restrictions on occupation where a completion certificate required by regulations has not been submitted and registered. They allow a building-control authority to seek a court order restricting or prohibiting use until the required certification is registered. The detailed requirements must be read alongside the applicable building control regulations and prescribed registration procedures.
GREEN CLAIMS
The European Union (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 124 of 2026) came into operation on 27 September 2026. They implement Directive (EU) 2024/825 which relates to empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and through better information. The Regulations amend the Consumer Protection Act 2007 and Consumer Rights Act 2022, introducing stronger controls on environmental claims and additional consumer information requirements.
The new rules prohibit, among other practices, generic environmental claims without recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim, claims about an entire product or business based on only one aspect, and offset-based claims that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse-gas impact. Sustainability labels must be based on a certification scheme or established by a public body. Construction sector businesses may wish to review dealings with homeowners acting as consumers and their consumer-directed promotion of products and services. The commercial-practices regime covers marketing and advertising, including consumer-facing promotion where products are sold through distributors.
The Regulations also expand the information businesses must give consumers under Part 5 of the Consumer Rights Act 2022 before they enter certain contracts, including information about conformity rights, durability guarantees and repairability, where applicable. Certain property transactions, contracts to construct new buildings and contracts for substantial conversion of existing buildings are exempted from Part 5 pre-contract information requirements, but these requirements may still apply where works fall outside those exemptions.
CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS REGULATION
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1310 entered into force on 17 September 2026, supplementing the revised Construction Products Regulation, which lays down harmonised rules for the marketing of construction products and establishes assessment and verification systems in Annex IX. These systems allocate responsibilities between manufacturers and, where required, notified bodies for assessing and verifying product performance and conformity with applicable product requirements. The Delegated Regulation specifies which assessment and verification system applies to each product family or category, in relation to its essential characteristics and conformity with product requirements. It also provides that System 4 applies where a product benefits from specified “deemed-to-satisfy” provisions, with the detailed systems and their application set out in Annexes I–III.
BUILDING RENOVATION AND EMBODIED CARBON
Two forthcoming milestones for Member States under the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive are the submission of the first National Building Renovation Plan by 31 December 2026 and publication and submission of a national roadmap for introducing life-cycle global-warming-potential limits for new buildings by 1 January 2027.
EU FRAMEWORK FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE
A Framework Communication from the European Commission on an EU Framework for Climate Resilience (PDF 462 KB) is intended to strengthen Europe’s ability to anticipate, prepare for, and manage climate risks. It proposes to embed climate resilience across all policy areas. The Framework could impact the development and financing of infrastructure, with the Commission proposing that a common forward-looking warming trajectory informs decisions on assets and investments, spatial planning and impact assessment, while embedding “climate-resilience-by-design” more systematically into EU funding and sectoral frameworks for energy, transport and critical infrastructure. Further information is available here: Commission presents Climate Resilience Framework for a better prepared and protected Europe.
CCAC REVIEWS
The Climate Change Advisory Council published 2026 reviews across several sectors. The Built Environment review (PDF 737 KB) recommends that the relevant Departments accelerate the deployment of solar photovoltaics (PVs) and publish the delayed draft National Building Renovation Plan. It recommends that the Government allocate increased funding to enable local authorities to deliver an accelerated step change in the retrofitting of social housing. It recommends developing and implementing a national heat strategy, that the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill be urgently finalised and enacted, and that work commence on the Geothermal Energy Bill.
The Industry and Waste review (PDF 729 KB) notes that there has been a growing backlog of proposed low-clinker solutions and lack of progress on decarbonised concrete standards in the National Standards Authority of Ireland. The CCAC calls for new standards and an accelerated approval process for such technologies. It recommends reform of the legal framework to enable commercial carbon capture, transport and storage, with a particular focus on cement and lime production.
The CCAC also calls for finalisation of the Renewable Heat Obligation scheme, for learning lessons from the first capital grant scheme, and for launch of an indigenous biomethane generation support scheme that is bankable and EU-compliant.
The CCAC also calls for the publication of a circularity roadmap for the construction sector by Q4 2026. It also calls for establishment of a wood knowledge development and innovation facility to support strategic coordination among stakeholders, complemented by a national industry forum to address technical and commercial barriers that limit Irish timber use in higher-value construction products.
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