Scope: Practical commentary on NEC4 ECC. Check the edition, selected options, Contract Data and amendments used on your project.
Build the register from the contract
Separate periods fixed by a particular clause from the period for reply and other durations entered in Contract Data. Record amendments and agreed extensions. Do not apply the general period for reply where a clause specifies its own timetable.
For each communication, keep its reference, date of receipt, contractual route, original deadline, any agreed extension, person responsible and evidence of the response. Record the date calculation convention used.
Keep the main processes distinct
- CE notification: clause 61.3 normally requires the Contractor to notify within eight weeks of becoming aware that the event has happened, subject to the stated exception for events the Project Manager should have notified.
- Reply to a Contractor’s CE notification: normally one week under clause 61.4, unless a longer period is agreed.
- CE quotation: normally three weeks to submit and two weeks for the Project Manager’s reply under clause 62, subject to the permitted extensions.
- Programme: the Project Manager normally has two weeks to accept or give reasons for non-acceptance under clause 31.3.
This is a selection of common ECC periods, not a complete contractual timetable. Payment, final assessment, design submissions and dispute procedures require their own entries.
Silence is not immediate acceptance
Under clause 61.4, the Contractor first notifies the failure to reply; a further two weeks without a reply is then required for the stated deeming consequence. The quotation procedure in clause 62.6 also requires a failure notice and a further two weeks. Programme acceptance under clause 31.3 uses a failure notice followed by a further one week.
Log those notices separately. A reminder email does not necessarily satisfy the contractual requirement. Check the relevant communication rules and the particular process before relying on deemed acceptance.
Make the register a weekly working document
Review items due soon, overdue replies and actions awaiting evidence. Assign a named owner and a deputy. Escalate uncertainty early rather than leaving interpretation until the final day. Site records help establish what happened; they do not themselves issue a notice or stop a contractual clock.
Sources and further reading
- NEC: Purposes of notifications
- NEC: Accepted programmes
- GMH Planning/CECA: Responses, time bars and deemed acceptances (practical commentary; check the applicable contract and amendments).
Related GMH guidance and discussion
These are practical commentary and discussion. Check the NEC edition and project amendments; older posts may use earlier clause numbering.
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