Does the Construction Contracts Act 2013 apply to my contract?
Ireland's Construction Contracts Act 2013 governs most construction contracts entered into after its start date, including subcontracts and the design and engineering services that go with the work. A short list of contracts is left out, by value, by type and for small owner-occupied dwellings. The parties cannot contract out of it.
The rows
The applicability rule, and the pay when paid term the Act makes ineffective in a contract it covers.
| Duty | Window and section | If missed |
|---|---|---|
| Determine whether the contract is a construction contract the Act governs | none sets 1, 2, 12(2); S.I. No. 165 of 2016 art 2 | no penalty statedDisputes |
| Do not rely on a term that makes payment, or its timing, conditional on payment by someone outside the contract | none sets 3(5), 3(6) | no penalty statedDisputes |
The test, in the library's words
Quoted a whole sentence at a time from the library's note on each row.
Determine whether the contract is a construction contract the Act governs
s 1, 2, 12(2); S.I. No. 165 of 2016 art 2 · none set · no penalty stated
- The Act applies only to a construction contract entered into after 25 July 2016.
- It does not apply to a contract worth not more than EUR 10,000, to a contract of employment, to a contract between a State authority and its public private partnership partner, or to a contract that relates only to a dwelling of not more than 200 square metres that one party occupies or intends to occupy.
- Design, surveying, engineering and project management services ancillary to construction operations are included (s 1(2)); manufacture or delivery of components, materials or plant is not, unless the same contract also installs them (s 1(3), (4)).
- The parties cannot contract out, and a foreign governing law does not exclude it (s 2(5)).
Do not rely on a term that makes payment, or its timing, conditional on payment by someone outside the contract
s 3(5), 3(6) · none set · no penalty stated
- A pay when paid term is ineffective, except after the third party's insolvency event listed in s 3(6) (winding up, receivership, examinership, bankruptcy adjudication, or the equivalent under EU insolvency law).
If the Act applies
The claim dates, the notice and the response are on payment claims; a payment dispute goes to adjudication.
What this page is, and is not
It is the section text this library holds for Ireland's Construction Contracts Act 2013 (Ireland) and Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 (Ireland), with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Act, the Regulations and the contract you signed.
Demiton does not yet track Irish projects. These pages set out the duties; the product does not run these checks on an Irish job today.
No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.