CIC publishes Novation Agreement – Switch and related collateral warranty

CIC has announced the publication of the remaining novation agreement and related collateral warranty:

• Novation Agreement – Switch (second edition)
• Collateral Warranty Consultant – Employer: Switch (first edition)

These industry-standard documents, which may be used by consultants of any discipline, balance the interests of clients and consultants to ensure they are acceptable to all parties.

The Novation Agreement – Switch is for use where the appointment of a consultant is to be novated from a client to a design and build contractor or other organisation on a “switch” basis (i.e. the contractor appointment applies only from the date of the novation, rather than on an ‘ab initio’ basis, where the appointment is deemed to be ‘from the outset’).

The Collateral Warranty Consultant – Employer: Switch is for use with the Novation Agreement – Switch where a warranty is to be given by the consultant to the design and build contractor’s employer in respect of the services performed after novation.

The production of these two documents, which completes the suite of CIC standard form novation agreements and collateral warranties (including an ‘ab initio’ form), was steered by the CIC Liability Panel. The Panel has also updated its Risk Management Briefing: Novation of Consultants’ Appointments, to reflect the revised suite.

The chair of the panel, Professor Sarah Lupton, said “Although the ‘ab initio’ form is more often used these days, many consultants and clients prefer the Switch version, and it therefore is important that the CIC continues to offer both options. The suite provides consultants and clients with a choice of carefully drafted forms that embody a sensible balance of risk. The updated Risk Management Briefing gives guidance on situations when each document may be suitable, and on ad-hoc clauses that should be avoided.”

CIC Chief Executive Graham Watts OBE said of the publication, “We are delighted to add to our suite of Novation Agreements and Collateral Warranties and complete this set of important industry standard documents. I would like to thank the members of the CIC Liability Panel who have been the driving force behind these documents and have put in an immense amount of work to produce them.”