Document Summaries

Guides to the key
documents, section by section

Each guide explains, in its own words, the provisions Part 3 examiners tend to test, with worked scenarios and quick-check questions. Clause and section references are given so you can find each point in your own copy of the document.

JCTReviewed May 2026

JCT Standard Building Contract 2024

JCT Standard Building Contract with Quantities 2024 (SBC/Q 2024), Joint Contracts Tribunal

The JCT SBC 2024 is the most heavily tested contract document in Part 3. Examiners test the CA's certification duties, the interim payment mechanism, extension of time grounds, loss and expense, practical completion criteria, and the distinction between the CA's quasi-judicial role and their role as agent of the employer.

6 sections
5 questions
RIBAReviewed May 2026

RIBA Professional Services Contracts 2020

RIBA Professional Services Contracts 2020: Standard, Concise, Principal Designer, Sub-Consultant, Client Advisor, and Domestic Forms. Royal Institute of British Architects, 2020.

The RIBA PSC 2020 is the standard form for architect appointments and is referenced in almost every Part 3 scenario. Examiners test: the net contribution clause and its interaction with joint and several liability; the scope definition and additional services regime; payment provisions; PII obligations; dispute resolution; and the Principal Designer service schedule.

4 sections
5 questions
ARBReviewed May 2026

ARB Architects Code 2025

Architects Code: Standards of Professional Conduct and Practice 2025. Architects Registration Board, effective 1 April 2025.

The ARB Code 2025 underpins all professional conduct questions in Part 3. Examiners test: the 6-standard structure; the relationship between ARB (statutory regulator) and RIBA (professional membership body); the PII obligation; the competence standard; and scenarios where commercial pressure conflicts with professional obligations.

7 sections
5 questions
RegulationReviewed May 2026

CDM Regulations 2015

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/51), supported by HSE L153 Managing health and safety in construction

CDM 2015 is one of the most heavily tested regulations in Part 3. Examiners probe the five duty holder roles and their precise statutory duties, the client's overarching responsibility, the notification thresholds under Regulation 6, the difference between the Pre-construction Information and the Construction Phase Plan, and the relationship between the CDM Principal Designer and the new statutory Principal Designer under the Building Safety Act 2022. Candidates are expected to quote regulation numbers, not just describe duties in general terms.

5 sections
5 questions
StatuteReviewed May 2026

Building Safety Act 2022

Building Safety Act 2022 c.30, supported by Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) Regulations 2023 SI 2023/909

The Building Safety Act 2022 is the most heavily examined new statute in current Part 3 papers. Examiners test the definition of a higher-risk building, the three Gateway process, the statutory Principal Designer role under s.31, the Accountable Person regime that runs into occupation, the change to limitation periods under s.135, and the new criminal liability framework. Candidates must know section numbers, Gateway timings, and the practical division of responsibility between the BSA PD, the CDM PD, and the Building Safety Regulator.

6 sections
5 questions
JCTReviewed May 2026

JCT Design and Build Contract 2024

JCT Design and Build Contract 2024 (DB 2024), Joint Contracts Tribunal

JCT DB 2024 is one of the most heavily tested procurement forms at Part 3 because it shifts design liability from the employer's consultants to the contractor and reshapes the architect's role. Examiners probe the relationship between Employer's Requirements and Contractor's Proposals, the design liability standard at clause 2.17, the Employer's Agent role (and how it differs from a JCT SBC Contract Administrator), the mechanics and ab initio principle of novation, and the payment notice chain that mirrors HGCRA 1996. Oral examiners frequently test whether the candidate can identify residual liability of the novated architect.

6 sections
5 questions
StatuteReviewed May 2026

Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996

Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 c.53 (as amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009)

HGCRA 1996 (often called 'the Construction Act') underpins every payment dispute and every adjudication on a construction contract in the United Kingdom. Part 3 examiners test the statutory payment notice mechanism, the timetable for Pay Less Notices, the contractor's right to suspend for non-payment, the statutory right to adjudication, the scope of the Scheme for Construction Contracts when a written contract is silent, and the limits on what counts as a construction contract. The 2009 amendments (in force 1 October 2011 in England and Wales) are part of the live statute and routinely appear in oral questions on payment notices.

6 sections
5 questions
StatuteReviewed May 2026

Limitation Act 1980 + Latent Damage Act 1986

Limitation Act 1980 (1980 c.58), as supplemented by the Latent Damage Act 1986 (1986 c.37)

Limitation is one of the most heavily tested legal topics at Part 3 because it determines how long an architect remains professionally exposed after completion. Examiners probe the 6 versus 12 year distinction (simple contract versus deed), when the limitation clock starts (date of breach in contract, date of damage in tort), the Latent Damage Act 1986 overlay of three years from knowledge with a fifteen year longstop, and the recent retrospective extension under section 135 of the Building Safety Act 2022 to claims under the Defective Premises Act 1972. Oral examiners often ask candidates to advise on PII run-off and on whether a particular claim is statute barred.

5 sections
5 questions
GuidanceReviewed May 2026

RIBA Plan of Work 2020

RIBA Plan of Work 2020 (Royal Institute of British Architects, 2020), as supported by RIBA PSC 2020 Schedule of Services and Stage Outcomes

The RIBA Plan of Work 2020 is the structural backbone of every Part 3 scenario. Examiners assume fluency in the eight stages (0 to 7) and probe how the stages interlock with the RIBA PSC 2020 Schedule of Services and with the JCT contract suite. Common test areas: which deliverables sign off each stage gateway, the Stage 4 design freeze and its relationship to Stage 5 variations, the architect's contract administration role from Stage 5 onwards, how procurement route shifts the position of the tender event, the design responsibility matrix at Stage 4, and the architect's role at Stages 6 and 7 (practical completion and soft landings).

6 sections
5 questions
StatuteReviewed May 2026

Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (2025 c.18, partial commencement at time of writing)

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is the most heavily tested new statute at Part 3 in the 2025 to 2026 cycle. Examiners probe candidates' awareness of the headline reforms (faster NSIP consenting, narrowed statutory consultee list, mandatory housing targets, Environmental Outcomes Reports replacing the EIA regime), the practical implications for client advice, and the architect's continuing duty under ARB Code 2025 Standard 1 to maintain competence in the new regime. Because the Act is in partial commencement at the time of writing, candidates are expected to demonstrate awareness of which provisions are in force and which await commencement order rather than memorise every section number.

6 sections
5 questions

More guides coming

Next: CDM Regulations 2015, Building Safety Act 2022, JCT Design and Build 2024, Housing Grants Act 1996, Limitation Act 1980 + Latent Damage Act 1986.

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