Award winning contract innovation

Laing O’Rourke has received the 2026 Innovation & Excellence Award from World Commerce & Contracting (WorldCC), recognising its industry leading approach to simplifying contracts and improving their usability across the business and wider construction industry.

The winning initiative, Transforming Contracting in the UK Construction Industry through Design and Simplification, takes on one of the construction industry’s biggest challenges: making contracts clearer, more accessible and genuinely usable in practice. By bringing together legal expertise and design thinking, the legal team has reimagined how contracts are structured and presented, making them far more practical for and effective for users.

The initiative has already delivered a 40% reduction in contract length, alongside improved readability and clearer structure.

Kate Kennedy, Head of Legal - Bids and Contract Transformation, said:

“Transforming the way we contract has truly been a collective effort, with teams from across the business coming together to do things differently. The willingness to embrace change and rethink how contracts work in practice has been key to making this a reality. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far, not just simplifying contracts, but helping drive a wider change that supports stronger partnerships and better outcomes across the industry.”