To choose contract management software for UK NEC work, test each option on your own contract rather than relying on feature lists. A feature list can tell you a product handles compensation events. What separates products is what happens with your amended periods, your mix of editions and a reply nobody sent.
This checklist applies whichever supplier you look at, including Contract Status. It builds on the NEC contract management software guide, and you can use it as a scoring sheet.
Before you speak to anyone
- List your live contracts by form and edition. Include NEC3 and NEC4, subcontracts and short forms. If you need to check what's what, see NEC contract types.
- Write down what has actually gone wrong. Missed periods, disputed dates or slow reports each point to different needs.
- Decide who has to use it. Include the other party. Site teams and subcontractors may matter more than the commercial team who chose it.
- Pick a real contract to test with. Choose one with Z clauses and amended periods, not your simplest.
The scoring sheet
| Area | Ask them to show you | Good answer |
|---|---|---|
| Edition | The same action on an NEC3 and an NEC4 contract | Right clause numbers and rules on each, such as 15 and 16 for early warnings |
| Periods | A period changed by a Z clause on one contract only | Dates change for that contract and nowhere else |
| Time bar | A compensation event with an awareness date beyond eight weeks | A warning, with the decision left to people |
| Late replies | A quotation with no answer under 62.6 | The notice route and the countdown shown, with nothing sent for you |
| Programme | A programme not answered, on NEC4 and on NEC3 | Deemed acceptance on NEC4 under 31.3, none on NEC3 |
| Payment | A cycle under Y(UK)2 with a pay less notice | The notice replaces the certified sum, rather than reducing it |
| Letters | A notice letter from a record | Your letterhead and the correct, amended clause |
| Both sides | What the other party sees and when | Drafts stay private, and submitted records reach them with a date |
| Across contracts | What a commercial manager sees on Monday morning | What is late across every contract, not one at a time |
| Honesty | A rule it can't check on your contract | It says so, and doesn't show a false all-clear |
Score each 0, 1 or 2 on what you saw, not what you were told. The pages on compensation event software and NEC4 software go deeper on the first few rows.
Questions to ask every supplier
Most of these aren't about NEC, but the answers will affect you for years.
- Who keeps the clause references correct, and what happens when NEC issues amendments?
- How do other parties get access, and is there a cost to them?
- How is pricing worked out: by user, by contract or by project value? What happens if the project grows?
- How do you get all your records out at the end, in what format, and for how long?
- Where is the data held, and what are the arrangements for backup and access control? Ask your IT or procurement team to add their own questions here.
- Whether messages in the system count as contract communications is for your contract to say, under clause 13. Ask what wording other buyers have put in their Scope, then take your own advice.
- How would records from a running contract be loaded, and who checks them?
Common mistakes
- Letting the demonstration choose the scenario. A standard walk-through is always smooth. Hand over your scenario instead.
- Testing only the happy path. Late replies, withdrawn notices and rejected programmes are what you are buying the system for.
- Leaving out the people who will use it. Have a planner and a surveyor try the screens, not just a director.
- Going live on everything at once. Start with one or two live contracts, so problems come up while they are small.
- Assuming software replaces training. The tool can show a date, but your people still need to understand the contract. What to learn about NEC4 is a useful start.
Do you need it at all?
You may not. For one small contract, a spreadsheet can be enough, as our comparison of software and spreadsheets explains. Choosing no system is better than choosing one your team won't use.
If you want to put Contract Status through this checklist, book a call and bring your contract and your scoring sheet.
Related guides
- NEC Contract Management Software
- Looking for a CEMAR Alternative?
- Why Use NEC Contract Management Software?
- The Benefits of NEC Contract Management Software
- Subcontract Management Software
- NEC Software vs Spreadsheets
See how this works in practice
Click through Contract Status with sample contracts: raise the notice, reply to it, and watch both sides of one record.
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Test your NEC knowledge, use the free NEC tools or download free NEC templates.
This guide is general information in our own words, not legal advice. Your contract and its Contract Data always govern. NEC, NEC3 and NEC4 are trade marks of Thomas Telford Ltd; Contract Status is not affiliated with or endorsed by NEC.