On 12 November 2009, the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill 2008 (LDEDC Bill 2008) received Royal Assent. The Bill will be known as the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (LDEDC Act 2009).

A commencement order is required to bring into force Part 8 of the Act, which amends Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Construction Act 1996). No date has been set for this, as the construction industry still awaits the draft amendments to its secondary legislation, the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/649). The consultation on this is anticipated in early 2010.

PLC Construction has updated all of its materials to take account of the changes, including Practice notes:

Source: Parliamentary business news