2000 Acta Structilia Vo! 7 No 1 

Eyvind Finsen 1 

The Building Contract: A commentary on the 

JBCC Agreements 

Review by J J P Verster2 

Like Finsen's previous books, The Building Contract, presents the 

industry, students and arbitrators with an excellent guide but does 
not represent a detailed investigation of construction contracts 

and the consequences of contracting or contractual issues. 

Despite this shortcoming the book fills the vital gap created by the 
new JBCC 2000 series of documentation and is a must for 
professionals, developers, builders and managers in the 
construction industry. 

The publication is divided into three sections. The first section covers 

general contractual issues and explains the role of construction 
professionals. The second section explains the rights, obligations 
and administration as set by the clauses of the JBCC 2000. Section 
three presents the actual documents (the Principal Agreement, 
forms, Nominated/Selected Agreement and Preliminaries). 

The Building Contract presents the professional student and 

construction mediator/arbitrator with an important guide in 
respect of professional practice and contractual interpretation. It 

is a great pity that the JBCC 2000 was once again altered after 
the publication of this book. We are awaiting the amendments 

to the book to suit the new international edition of the JBCC 2000 
eagerly. 

Eyvind Finsen is an architect, arbitrator and construction contract consultant in 

private practice in Johannesburg and Cape Town. He is President of the South 

African Council of Architects and Honorary Life Fellow of the Association of 

Arbitrators (South Africa). He is the author of Quail on the Building Contract and 

The New Building Contract and joint author, with Professor David Butler, of 

Arbitration in South Africa. 

2 Professor J J P (Basie) Verster, Head: Department of Quantity Surveying and 

Construction Management, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South 

Africa. 



Finsen/The Building Contract 

This publication and guide unfortunately includes some minor 
imperfections relating to a lack of understanding of the quantity 
surveyor's role in the construction, documentation and 

managerial process. Furthermore, it provides limited references 

to some types of contracts and their implications. 

Finsen must once again be thanked for his contribution to the 
construction industry. The Building Contract is just one of several 

publications by him regarding contractual issues and he must be 
commended for maintaining the high quality of his previous 
works. This book clearly indicates Finsen's intimate involvement in 

the drafting of the JBCC 2000, which enhances the practical 

impact of this very useful publication even more3. 

Date of publication: (First Edition) 1999 

Publisher: JUTA 

Printed in: Cape Town 

Price: ± R235.00 

3 This review is by Professor JJP (Basie) Verster, Head: Department of Quantity 

Surveying and Construction Management, University of the Free State, Bloem­

fontein, South Africa.