The employer’s voice, in the room.
Friel Welch is appointed as Employer’s Agent on JCT Design and Build schemes across residential, fit-out, and turnkey sectors. The role consolidates contractual, commercial, and design oversight into a single appointment, so the Employer hires one party to protect their position from contract execution through to final account. Our team carries the appointment across the suite of JCT Design and Build contracts, alongside the bespoke amendments we draft and review, with the experience to make decisions promptly and the design fluency to hold the Employer’s Requirements through delivery.
The Employer’s representative
Employer’s Agent is a different role to Contract Administration, and the difference matters. On D&B procurement the Employer transfers design responsibility to the contractor and steps out of the day-to-day. We act for the Employer against the contractor’s position where the contract requires it. The role is not neutral, and it is not meant to be. Our job is to protect the commercial position the Employer has agreed, hold the contractor to the Employer’s Requirements, and certify the outcome the contract requires. The client appoints an EA because the client wants their position represented by a team that understands the contract better than the contractor does.
Design-led where it matters most
D&B is the procurement route where design intent is most exposed. Once the contract is executed the contractor controls the design, and the route between the Employer’s vision and the building actually delivered runs through the Employer’s Requirements. Our team reads design fluently. We test contractor design submissions against the ER’s, push back where the submission compresses the design without justification, and hold the line on the intent the brief was built around. Our commercial discipline is applied with an architect’s eye for what the design is actually trying to do.
The Employer’s Requirements are written to be enforced
The Employer’s Requirements are the document the EA appointment hinges on. Done well, they shape the design, the contract and the dispute resolution that follows. Our team writes and reviews Employer’s Requirements with delivery in mind. We test each clause against the project it has to defend, flag the language the contractor will later challenge, and close the ambiguities the project cannot afford to carry forward into delivery.
One appointment and one point of accountability
The EA appointment consolidates contractual administration, commercial representation, and design oversight under a single party. The Employer hires one team and the contractor reports to one party on commercial and contractual matters. The design submissions are reviewed against the Employer’s Requirements by the same team that is also certifying payment, valuing variations, and assessing extensions of time. Our reporting back to the Employer is written in plain language, ties together the commercial, contractual, and design positions in one view, and gives the Employer the clarity to make the decisions only they can make.
Pre-contract
- Procurement strategy — D&B vs alternative routes, advice on contract form.
- Employer’s Requirements — Drafting and review.
- Contract drafting and amendments — Reviewed with the employer’s legal advisor.
- Contractor selection support — Tender preparation, evaluation, recommendation.
- Pre-construction information — Collation and coordination.
During construction
- Contract administration — Instructions, variations, certificates.
- Design submission review — Against the Employer’s Requirements.
- Payment certificates — Monthly valuations and interim certificates.
- Extensions of time and loss and expense — Assessment and determination.
- Change management — Cost, programme, and design implications reported.
- Single point of contact — With the contractor on commercial and contractual matters.
- Periodic reporting — To the employer, in plain language.
Close-out
- Practical completion certification — Issued against the contract.
- Defects liability period administration — Tracked and managed through to close-out.
- Final account agreement — Negotiation and sign-off.
- Collateral warranty and bond management — Collation and review.
- Post-completion close-out — Handover documentation and records.
Similarities to Contract Administration
Employer’s Agent and Contract Administrator share several duties, and both become active once the contract is in place. They are often confused. The procurement route is what separates them. On traditional procurement, where the design responsibility sits with the Employer and the design team, the role is Contract Administration, performed impartially between the parties. On JCT Design and Build, where design responsibility transfers to the contractor, the role consolidates with the Employer’s commercial representation into a single Employer’s Agent appointment, performed for the Employer. Our team carries both.