Scope: Practical commentary on NEC4 ECC. Check the edition, selected options, Contract Data and amendments used on your project.
Start with the actual subcontract
Confirm the subcontract form, edition, options, Scope and amendments. Identify differences in notification periods, programme requirements, payment processes, design responsibilities and risk allocation.
A document described as “back-to-back” may still contain material differences. Build a comparison of the obligations the delivery team actually needs to administer, with references to both contracts.
Use the correct clocks
Record the notification period and starting event in the executed subcontract, including any amendments. Check these separately from the main-contract deadlines.
Set internal reporting targets early enough to allow a separate main-contract review. An internal target does not change the contractual period or establish that an event is recoverable upstream.
Connect delivery and programme evidence
Agree how subcontract progress will be reported and reconciled with the Contractor’s programme. Identify access, design and other trade dependencies. Retain original submissions and explanations for changes.
A subcontract delay does not automatically establish a main-contract compensation event. Analyse the relevant event, contractual risk allocation and effect on the remaining work.
Assess each compensation event under its own contract
Keep the subcontract notification, main-contract notification, quotations and assessments distinct. Cross-reference the underlying event and evidence. Avoid treating a subcontractor’s quotation as automatically recoverable from the Client.
Where the applicable cost-based main option is used, check the Defined Cost and Disallowed cost provisions. A difference between an upstream assessment and a subcontract agreement is not, by itself, a contractual category of Disallowed cost.
Administer payment and acceptance requirements
Check the contract’s subcontractor and subcontract-document acceptance requirements, including exceptions. Do not invent a universal obligation to accept every supplier or every subcontract document.
Apply the payment provisions and legislation relevant to the subcontract. Keep application, assessment, notice and payment dates visible; do not assume the Client’s payment timetable governs the subcontractor’s entitlement.
- Maintain separate notices and payment registers.
- Retain evidence of work, resources and instructions.
- Escalate missing information before an assessment deadline.
- Review disputed items without allowing the undisputed process to drift.
Sources and further reading
- NEC: Purposes of notifications
- NEC: Disallowed cost
- NEC: Accepted programmes
- GMH Planning/CECA: Managing subcontractors (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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