The New RIAI 2025 Construction Contract – Key Changes
Thursday, 13 August 2026The RIAI launched the new RIAI Construction Contract in late 2025. While the 2025 contract was published some months ago, the industry has been characteristically tentative in its uptake, with many industry participants continuing (at the time of writing in June 2026) to base their contract forms on the 2017 edition, preferring to include provisions from the 2025 form in bespoke amendments.
However, there are signs of increasing engagement with the new form, and this is only likely to accelerate. With that in mind, we review the key revisions in this article.
Overview of the new contract structure
The 2025 contract presented us with a new structure, most notably the Contract Particulars which replaced the use of the Appendix in the previous editions of the contract. The Contract Particulars were conveniently placed to the front of the Conditions of Contract, allowing parties to populate contract specific details and select various optional provisions.
Clauses 1 to 38 in the Conditions of Contract were revised and replaced with new clauses 1 to 12 providing a clearer and more logical layout. At a glance, the structure of the new form appears to differ significantly. However, the substance of the contract and clauses remain largely similar to previous editions.
Key Features and Changes
Caps on Liability
A monetary cap was introduced on the contractor’s liability under sub-clause 5.10. The contract caps liability at the Contract Sum by default unless “opted out of” in the Contract Particulars. This change aligns with the prevailing industry practice and is subject to the usual exclusions, including fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation and wilful default; death, personal injury; damage to third party property; and matters intended to be covered by required insurances.
Insurances
From a risk allocation perspective, the insurance provisions in the 2025 contract remain largely unchanged from its predecessor. Notably, it recognises the market’s demand for holding professional indemnity insurance and insurance for existing structures by default. Professional Indemnity Insurance must be maintained as specified in the contract particulars subject to availability at commercially reasonable rates. The minimum professional indemnity insurance limit defaults to €1,500,000 in the aggregate and is to be maintained for a period of six years from the date of practical completion.
The 2025 form provides parties with the option to include products liability insurance, non-negligence insurance and latent defects insurance. All risks insurance must now include the contractor and the employer as composite insured (formerly referred to as ‘jointly insured’) and, if stated in the contract particulars, the funder may also be included under this policy. This reflects modern financing structures and enhances security from a funder’s perspective.
Time Bars and Notice Provisions
The 2025 contract provides more certainty in applying new procedures for contractor claims, including strict time bars to claims which are set out under clause 6.11. Contractors must submit the notice of claim to the architect as soon as possible, but no later than 20 working days after the contractor becomes aware or ought to have been aware of the event. The contractor must submit full details of the claim within a further 25 working days, failing which, the employer will be released from liability for the claim.
Subcontracting Arrangements - Updated Provisions on Sub-Contractors and Partial Completion
The 2025 contract addresses the appointment of Selected Sub-Contractors engaged prior to execution of the main contract, which reflects changed market norms, while maintaining provisions for Nominated Sub-Contractors. The Architect is granted discretion to assess whether a contractor’s objection to a Nominated Sub-Contractor is justified. The Employer is expressly excluded from liability in respect of Selected Sub-Contractors.
The revised provisions on partial possession and partial completion also introduce a balancing mechanism. If an employer’s proposed possession of part of the works would have a material adverse effect on sequencing or timely completion, the contractor may raise a reasoned objection within a specified period. Where justified, possession may be deferred. This addresses a recurring source of dispute under the 2017 form and reflects a more structured approach to risk management.
Collateral Warranties
The 2025 contract introduces a greatly expanded collateral agreements regime (Sub-Clause 7.1). The Contractor must provide collateral agreements from listed sub-contractors and sub-contractors for listed sub-contract works, in favour of the Employer and each "Sub-Contractor Collateral Agreement Beneficiary," in the form of the Third Schedule. The Contractor must also execute its own collateral agreements in favour of "Contractor Collateral Agreement Beneficiaries."
Critically:
- If required collateral agreements have not been provided, the Employer is not liable to make payment for the value of the Works to which they relate until those agreements are provided.
- Provision of all required collateral agreements is a condition of Practical Completion.
- The Third Schedule contains detailed forms (Form 1 for Sub-Contractor Collateral Agreements and Form 2 for Contractor Collateral Agreements) including step-in rights.
Dispute Resolution
Clause 12 encourages parties to resolve any dispute by prioritising negotiation. This is intended to reduce legal spend and preserve working relationships. Conciliation and arbitration remain available, although arbitration is now optional, giving parties greater control over dispute resolution strategy than the position under the 2017 contract.
Notable Omissions
Like the 2017 edition, the 2025 contract contains no D&B (Design & Build) form, limiting its suitability for contractor led design procurement. Given the prevalence of bespoke amendments creating D&B arrangements under the RIAI forms of contract, this might be viewed as a missed opportunity.
Other notable omissions which are usually included in bespoke amendments include the absence of a nuisance clause, leaving issues such as noise, dust, vibration, and site disruption without explicit contractual control. Similarly, the contract provides no utilities or services clause. These and other omissions indicate the likelihood that schedules of substantial bespoke amendments are unlikely to become a thing of the past.
Conclusion
The RIAI Construction Contract 2025 represents an evolutionary but meaningful update to the 2017 suite. For employers, contractors and advisers, the 2025 edition offers a more clearly defined contractual framework better suited to current regulatory, insurance and funding environments. Its long-term influence will depend on how consistently it is adopted and the extent to which market participants resist reverting to extensive amendments.
Overall, the revised RIAI suite seeks to balance collaboration with clarity—an objective that reflects both industry experience since 2017 and the evolving demands of modern construction practice in Ireland.
| Key Changes | 2017 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Collateral Agreements | The 2017 edition contained less explicit drafting on these clauses and post-award obligations. | Clauses 7.1 contains provisions relating to collateral agreements, and template forms are provided in the Third Schedule. The Contract Particulars set out what collateral agreements are required as well as the beneficiaries of such agreements.
|
| Performance Bond and Sub-Optional Clause | Updated clause | The default in the Contract Particulars is that Sub-Clause 7.2 applies, and a Performance Bond is thus required. The default value is 12.5% of the Contract Sum reducing to half of that upon Practical Completion. |
| Limitation on Contractor’s liability | New clause – no equivalent in 2017 contract. | This sets out the potential total aggregate monetary liability of the Contractor, subject to the specified exceptions in Sub-Clause 5.10. When the sub-clause is to apply, the amount of the limit is to be included in the Contract Particulars where the default amount is the Contract Sum.
|
| Dispute Resolution | Updated clause | The 2025 contract prioritises dispute avoidance and dispute resolution through negotiation. The Contract Particulars give the option to omit the arbitration clause at Sub-Clause 12.3.
|
| Selected Sub-Contractors | Structural change from 2017 Contract | The details of each Selected Sub-Contract to be included are:
|
| Time bars and Notice Provisions for Contractor’s Claims | Updated clause – no explicit time bars in the 2017 contract | Sub-Clause 6.11 sets out notice provisions and conditions precedent to the contractual procedures for Contractor’s claims. A condition precedent is a term in a contract that specifies an event or condition which must be met before an obligation or entitlement under the contract is triggered.
Sub-clause 6.11.5 triggers the condition precedent and provides that where the Contractor has not complied with the relevant provisions of sub-clause 6.11, then the Contractor is not entitled to an increase in the Contract Sum or an extension of time, and the Employer is released from all liability to the Contractor in connection with the matter. |
If you would like more information on this or any other construction law related issue you may be experiencing, please contact Kevin Harnett, Lisa Maloney or Charlotte Lyons on the Byrne Wallace Shields Infrastructure Construction Energy Team.
