NEC4 ECC has 21 core compensation events, numbered 60.1(1) to 60.1(21). The table below lists all the compensation events in NEC4 in our own plain English and shows who would normally notify each one. Further events sit in the Options, listed after it.
This is a summary, so read the contract for the exact tests: several entries have exceptions and qualifications that decide the outcome. For how they fit into the wider process, see the compensation events guide.
Clause 60.1: the core events
| 60.1 | In plain English | Usually notified by |
|---|---|---|
| (1) | The Project Manager instructs a change to the Scope. Not if it accepts a Defect, or if it changes the Contractor's own design at the Contractor's request or to fit other Scope. | Project Manager |
| (2) | Access to part of the Site comes late: after both its access date and the date on the Accepted Programme. | Contractor |
| (3) | Something the Client is to provide arrives later than the Accepted Programme shows. | Contractor |
| (4) | The Project Manager instructs that work stops or doesn't start, or changes a Key Date. | Project Manager |
| (5) | The Client or Others work outside the times on the Accepted Programme or the conditions in the Scope, or carry out Site work the Scope doesn't mention. | Contractor |
| (6) | The Project Manager or Supervisor doesn't reply to a Contractor's communication within the time the contract requires. | Contractor |
| (7) | The Project Manager instructs how to deal with a valuable or historic object found on the Site. | Project Manager |
| (8) | The Project Manager or Supervisor goes back on a decision already given to the Contractor. | Project Manager |
| (9) | The Project Manager withholds an acceptance for a reason the contract doesn't give. The exceptions are quotations for acceleration or for leaving a Defect uncorrected. | Contractor |
| (10) | The Supervisor instructs a search for a Defect and none is found, unless the search arose only because the Contractor gave too little notice of work that would block a test or inspection. | Project Manager or Contractor |
| (11) | A test or inspection by the Supervisor causes unnecessary delay. | Contractor |
| (12) | The Contractor meets physical conditions on the Site, other than weather, so unlikely at the Contract Date that an experienced contractor could not reasonably have allowed for them. Only the excess over a reasonable allowance counts. | Contractor |
| (13) | A month's weather, measured at the Contract Data location before the Completion Date, is shown by the weather data to happen on average less than once in ten years. Only the excess counts. | Contractor |
| (14) | An event happens that is one of the Client's liabilities stated in the conditions of contract. | Contractor |
| (15) | Part of the works is taken over, and certified, while Completion and the Completion Date are both still to come. | Project Manager |
| (16) | The Client doesn't supply materials, facilities or samples for tests and inspections as the Scope says it will. | Contractor |
| (17) | The Project Manager corrects an assumption it stated about a compensation event. | Project Manager |
| (18) | The Client breaches the contract in a way no other compensation event covers. | Contractor |
| (19) | An event neither Party could prevent, and so unlikely at the Contract Date that an experienced contractor could not reasonably have allowed for it, stops the Contractor completing the whole of the works or completing by the Accepted Programme date. It isn't another compensation event. | Contractor |
| (20) | The Project Manager says a quotation for a proposed instruction isn't accepted. | Project Manager |
| (21) | An additional compensation event listed in the Contract Data happens. | Depends on the event |
The last column is a guide, not a rule. The contract's rule is based on what caused the event: if it arises from an instruction, notification, certificate or changed decision, clause 61.1 puts the notice on the Project Manager. If that doesn't happen, the Contractor can still notify under clause 61.3.
Events in the Options
| Clause | Applies with | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 60.4 | Options B and D | The final quantity of an item differs from the Bill of Quantities, in the cases the contract sets out |
| 60.5 | Options B and D | A quantity difference delays Completion or a Key Date |
| 60.6 | Options B and D | A mistake in the Bill of Quantities is corrected |
| X2.1 | Option X2 | The law changes after the Contract Date |
| X12.3 | Option X12 | The Core Group changes the Partnering Information, or the Contractor changes its programme to follow a revised timetable |
| X14.2 | Option X14 | The advanced payment is made late |
| X15.2 | Option X15 | The Contractor corrects a Defect it isn't liable for |
| Y2.5 | Option Y(UK)2 | The Contractor suspends performance as the Construction Act allows |
Your own contract may have more. Z clauses often change entries in the list, and 60.1(21) exists so that extra events can be named in Contract Data part one.
Reading the list properly
- Check the Accepted Programme dates. Entries (2), (3) and (5) depend on dates shown there. A programme that doesn't show them weakens the event.
- Don't use (18) first. It only applies where no other event fits, so test the specific ones before it.
- Note "only the excess". Entries (12) and (13) don't reward the whole cost of bad ground or weather, only the part beyond what the test allows.
- Don't assume the editions match. If you work across them, compare with the NEC3 compensation events list: the numbers up to (19) mostly line up, but the wording and defined terms aren't identical.
Related guides
- NEC Compensation Events: The Complete Guide
- The Full List of NEC3 ECC Compensation Events
- The Compensation Event Process Step by Step
- How to Notify a Compensation Event
- What Is a Compensation Event?
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