Use the NEC4 PSSC (Professional Service Short Contract) when you are appointing a Consultant for straightforward work that carries low risk for both sides and needs no sophisticated management. The Client deals directly with the Consultant, with no Service Manager in between.
A survey, a feasibility note, an expert report or a small design check would be typical. It also has a part in frameworks: the NEC4 Framework Contract usually places time charge orders under it. Compare it with the other NEC contract types before you decide.
PSSC or PSC?
| Question | Points to the PSSC | Points to the PSC |
|---|---|---|
| Is the service easy to describe? | Yes, a clear brief | It will develop as the project does |
| Does it need a contract administrator? | No, the Client can run it | Yes, a Service Manager |
| Will there be several interfaces? | Few | Many, including work by others |
| Are Key Dates important? | No | Yes |
| Do you need X Options? | No | Yes, such as X18 limitation of liability |
| Pricing | A Price List | Main Option A, C or E |
How the Consultant is paid
Pricing goes on a Price List, which can be used in two ways: stated prices, or time charge with people rates (which the Consultant gives in the Contract Data). The notes in the contract forms say it doesn't provide for mixing the two in one contract, so choose one approach and fill in the forms accordingly.
The rates on a time charge job cover the Consultant's costs other than listed expenses, so check what is on the expenses list before tendering. Under 50.1, assessment days fall monthly from the starting date, up to the month after the defects date, unless either side gives notice ending the service. The Consultant works out the amount due and invoices it before each assessment day, and payment follows under 51.1.
What the short form has
- Early warning. Either side warns (15.1) and both co-operate on a response, with a record of what will be done (15.2). There is no Early Warning Register and no meeting schedule.
- Programmes. Provided when and how the Scope says (31.1), without acceptance.
- Change. The Client instructs a change to the Scope (14.2). A mistake in the Price List is corrected by instruction (14.3).
- Key people. The Consultant uses the people named in the Contract Data or a replacement the Client accepts (21.2).
- Defects. The Client can notify them up to the defects date (40.1), and the Consultant puts them right quickly enough to limit the harm (41.2).
- Construction Act. If the Act applies, the pay less rule and the right to suspend are in numbered conditions (1.4 and 1.5), not Option Y(UK)2.
Compensation events
The PSSC has eight events at 60.1:
- A change to the Scope by instruction, except to accept a Defect
- Something from the Client arriving late
- An instruction to stop or not start work
- The Client working outside the Scope's conditions
- A late reply from the Client
- A changed decision
- A corrected assumption
- A corrected mistake in the Price List
Either side can raise one. Where the Consultant does, its quotation goes with the notification. Notifying more than four weeks after you became aware leaves the Prices unchanged in the unamended NEC4 and NEC3 forms (61.3), so note that at the start. The general process is in the compensation events guide, and it is much simpler here.
A worked example
A fictional town council needs a condition survey of a footbridge. The brief is one page, with one inspection and one report. It uses the PSSC at a time charge, with people rates of an illustrative £70 and £95 an hour and expenses at cost. Halfway through, it asks the engineer to add a second bridge. That instruction changes the Scope (14.2) and is a compensation event, 60.1(1). The engineer quotes additional hours at the same rates, and the council accepts. The whole exchange takes three short emails, which is the appeal of the short form. A multi-year commission on several bridges would need the full PSC.
When to avoid it
- When the brief depends on a client who cannot reply quickly. Silence here falls directly on the Client, with no Service Manager to chase it.
- When liability needs a tailored cap or special insurance terms. Although Z clauses can be added, that's a sign the work may be less simple than it looks.
- When the service is really part of a larger, connected project. The guide to professional services under NEC looks at this choice from the fee side.
Related guides
- NEC Contract Types: Which Form Do You Need?
- NEC4 Term Service Contract (TSC)
- NEC4 Term Service Subcontract (TSS)
- NEC4 Term Service Short Contract (TSSC)
- NEC4 Professional Service Contract (PSC)
- NEC4 Professional Service Subcontract (PSS)
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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.