Franco Mastrandrea, partner, HKA, has been announced as the speaker for the JCT Povey Lecture 2026, taking place on Tuesday, 17 November.
The title of Franco’s presentation is “Notice Provisions – Has the Drafting Pendulum Swung Too Far?”
Bringing his considerable experience of international project management, dispute resolution, and construction legal issues to bear, Franco’s analysis and discussion of the current contract drafting landscape will be an essential event for all those working with JCT contracts.
About the speaker
Franco Mastrandrea is a chartered quantity surveyor and chartered arbitrator with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry.
He has acted as expert on more than 50 international project management, delay and quantum-related disputes.
Franco has extensive and diverse dispute resolution expertise. With an established record in drafting, interpreting and applying commercial terms in contracts, he successfully combines both knowledge and experience under traditional cross-examination and hot-tubbing.
Franco’s expert commissions cover a wide range of industries including oil and gas in Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, North Africa and South East Asia; transport infrastructure in the Caribbean and the UK; power generation, from CCGT to windfarms, in the UK; and numerous building and infrastructure projects around the world.
Franco holds a doctorate that addresses the law, practice and quantification of construction claims. He is a CEDR-accredited mediator, on the RICS register of Dispute Board Members and the FIDIC President’s list of adjudicators, a chartered arbitrator, and on arbitrator lists maintained by RICS and international arbitration centres in Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Franco has written extensively on the evaluation of construction claims and is listed in Lexology Index as a “highly respected expert” who is “a really extraordinary witness”.
The JCT Povey Lecture
The JCT Povey Lecture is an online event hosted and presented by JCT chair, Karen Kirkham.
Karen will give a welcome address and also host a post-event discussion/Q&A, for which audience members will be able to submit questions via the online interface.
The JCT Povey Lecture is open to members of the JCT Network. To receive an invite, the JCT Network can be joined at www.jctltd.co.uk/network-signup.
The event will take place at 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 17 November 2026.
The JCT Povey Lecture was inaugurated in 2003 to acknowledge and pay tribute to Philip Povey, who served JCT for fifty years. 2026 will be the 24th Povey Lecture.
The lecture is an annual event at which an eminent person is invited to give their thoughts on significant matters relevant to the construction and property industry.
The purpose of the series is to stimulate thought and encourage ways of continuing to improve the quality and value of construction output.
For more information and to view past presentations, visit: corporate.jctltd.co.uk/category/jct-povey-lecture.
