A diary review can reveal work changes, access problems or resource disruption that deserve commercial investigation. The useful output is a list of potential events with evidence and next actions, not a declaration that every variance is recoverable.
Use the contract’s event tests
NEC4 ECC clause 60.1 identifies compensation-event grounds. The selected options, Contract Data and amendments may add or alter provisions. Avoid using an unexplained count of “19 categories” as a complete NEC4 checklist: 19 is the number of grounds listed under NEC3, whereas NEC4 ECC clause 60.1 lists 21.
A Project Manager’s instruction changing Scope, unexpected physical conditions and qualifying weather measurements engage different tests. Coding an entry against a clause helps route the issue; it does not establish that the clause’s conditions have been met.
Correct the weather example
The standard ECC weather test is not an “exceptionally adverse weather” threshold of 20% time impact across eight weeks. Clause 60.1(13) uses specified measurements within a calendar month and the relevant historical frequency comparison at the contractual location.
Daily records can show which operations were affected. They do not create an automatic £47,000 entitlement, and a count of disrupted shifts is not automatically an extension to the Completion Date. Assess qualifying weather and its effects separately.
Do not transfer rules between contract forms
NEC, JCT and FIDIC use different terminology, event definitions and procedures. A physical condition that might be a compensation event under NEC4 ECC is not automatically a JCT variation or loss-and-expense ground. Read the actual form, edition and amendments before advising on entitlement or a notice period.
Review awareness and notification
Standard NEC4 ECC clause 61.3 includes an eight-week time bar from awareness that the event has happened, with an exception for events the Project Manager should have notified. The date of a later commercial review is not automatically the awareness date.
Keep early warnings, compensation-event notifications and quotations distinct. A diary category or AI alert does not issue any of those communications by itself.
Measure review performance honestly
A claim that manual reviewers miss 40% of events requires a defined dataset, review method and independently checked classification of the events. Without that evidence, do not present the percentage as an industry fact or a guaranteed software improvement.
A practical evaluation can compare reviewers on the same records, separate true events from false positives and document whether suggested notices were valid and timely. More flags are not necessarily more recoverable entitlement.
A review workflow
- Capture the original record and relevant date.
- Identify the possible ground and missing facts.
- Check authority, contractual conditions and notice requirements.
- Assign the next action and monitor its deadline.
- Record the eventual assessment separately from the initial flag.
Further reading
Check the contract form, edition, amendments, options, Contract Data and Scope used on your project.
Gather helps organise site records for review. Explore Gather’s site records.
Key Takeaways
- A diary review produces a list of potential events with evidence and next actions. It does not establish that every variance is recoverable.
- Coding an entry against a clause routes the issue for review. It does not show that the clause’s conditions have been met.
- The weather test at clause 60.1(13) uses specified measurements within a calendar month against the historical frequency for the contractual location. It is not a percentage of time lost across eight weeks.
- Clause 61.3 runs its eight-week bar from awareness that the event has happened, subject to the exception for events the Project Manager should have notified. The date of a later commercial review is not automatically the awareness date.
- Write the event in the site diary that day.
- Rosie reads those entries against the contract and raises a possible event for review. An alert is neither an early warning nor a compensation-event notification.
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