Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996

The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the ‘Construction Act’) is the foundational UK construction-payment statute. It created a statutory right to refer disputes to fast adjudication and rendered most ‘pay-when-paid’ clauses ineffective — preserving them only where the upstream payer is insolvent. Later amendments also prohibited ‘pay-when-certified’ provisions. Its prompt-payment/adjudication model was subsequently adopted in Australia, Canada and elsewhere, and it is the statute the UK Late Payment Reform 2026 proposes to amend to ban retention withholding.

Connections

• Pay-When-Paid Clauses — Act voids most such clauses, source: 1996
• Construction Adjudication — Act created the statutory right, source: 1996
• UK Late Payment Reform 2026 — package amends this Act, source: 2026