Turnstiles and allocation records under NEC4

What you need to know

Attendance and deployment answer different questions.
No single record proves every element of Defined Cost.
Consider the full Disallowed cost wording and Scope requirements.
A record is not automatically a contractual notice.

An access log can show when someone entered or left a site. It does not necessarily show what they did while there. An allocation record can explain activity, location, deployment and standing time. Together they can help a reviewer understand people costs.

Understand each record’s limits

A swipe is evidence of an access transaction, not conclusive proof of the hours worked or their contractual recoverability. Missing or duplicated swipes, off-site duties, breaks and different entrances may need explanation. Allocation records also need checking against the facts.

Turnstiles may support a site’s access-control and emergency arrangements, but do not present physical turnstiles as universally required by CDM or as a prescribed method of CIS tax compliance. Choose controls that meet the actual legal and project requirements.

Apply the NEC4 cost rules

For NEC4 ECC Options C–E, assess people costs using the applicable cost components and Disallowed cost definition. Clause 11.2(26) includes costs not justified by accounts and records. Resource-use exclusions require their full wording, including reasonable availability and utilisation, to be considered.

Attendance alone may leave questions unanswered. That does not make a particular allocation-sheet template universally mandatory or mean that standing time is always excluded. The Scope can specify additional records, and the relevant evidence may include timesheets, payroll, agency arrangements, allocation records and site reports.

Reconcile before drawing a conclusion

If an allocation shows eight hours but an access log shows six, investigate the discrepancy. It may be an error, an off-site activity or another explainable difference. Neither record automatically overrides the other.

If a gang stood awaiting access, record the timing, cause, resources and any mitigation or redeployment. These facts can support review of a possible compensation event. They do not establish the event without applying the relevant clause and notification procedure.

Keep contractual actions separate

The standard ECC eight-week time bar runs from awareness that an event happened, subject to the exception for events the Project Manager should have notified. An allocation entry is not automatically a notification. Check amendments, authority and the required communication method.

For cost and time assessment, distinguish actual evidence from forecasts at the dividing date and demonstrate the programme effect where required. A record of four idle hours does not by itself establish four hours of delay to planned Completion.