NEC4 Term Service Short Contract (TSSC)

The NEC4 Term Service Short Contract (TSSC) is for a straightforward service provided over a period, with the Client dealing directly with the Contractor. There is no Service Manager, and work can be called off by Task Orders if the Client wants to do so.

Think of grounds maintenance at a small site, routine servicing of equipment, or window cleaning. It is the simple end of the term service range, and one of a number of NEC contract types built for low-risk work.

TSSC or TSC?

Feature	NEC4 TSSC	NEC4 TSC
Contract administrator	None. The Client acts itself	Service Manager
Plan	The Scope states what is needed. No acceptance or updating process	First plan, acceptance and revisions (31, 32)
Early warning	A duty to warn and co-operate. No register, no meetings	Register and meetings (15)
Quotations	Client accepts or gives its own view. No revised quotations	Reply options include a revised quotation (62.3, 62.4)
Final assessment	None. The last assessment acts as the final one	Clause 53
Main and secondary Options	None	A, C or E, plus X Options
Subcontract	No short term service subcontract exists	TSS

If the service needs a dedicated manager, performance measures, or a detailed plan, choose the full form.

How it runs

1. Set the scope. The Scope describes the service and what plan, if any, the Contractor provides.
2. Call off work. The Client can issue Task Orders for particular jobs. A change to the Scope or to a Task Order is made by instruction (14.2).
3. Deal with change. Either side can notify a compensation event (61.1). When the Client notifies one, the Contractor quotes within one week, and when the Contractor notifies one, its quotation goes with the notice (61.2). The Contractor has four weeks to notify (61.3), and the Client two to reply (62.2).
4. Reply. The Client accepts, or disagrees and gives its own assessment, or says why nothing should change (62.2). No reply in time means the quotation counts as accepted (62.3).
5. Close out. Because the last assessment becomes the final one, disagreements shouldn't be left to the end of the term.

Compensation events

These events are confirmed at 60.1:

• (1) An instruction altering the Scope or a Task Order
• (2) Access the work needs not given
• (3) Something the Client should provide arriving late
• (4) An instruction to stop or not start work
• (5) The Client working outside the Scope's conditions
• (6) A late reply
• (7) A changed decision
• A corrected mistake in the Price List

A correction to an assumption is also an event, under the assumption rule at 62.5. The June 2017 text and NEC's later note number these two last events differently, so we don't give numbers for them. Delay is measured against a Task Completion Date (63.6), and a late notification from the Contractor leaves the Prices and that date unchanged (61.3).

Termination

A Party gives notice with a permitted reason (90.1). Default by the Contractor that isn't stopped in time lets the Client terminate (90.3), and an amount due that's left unpaid for thirteen weeks after the assessment day following the invoice lets the Contractor terminate (90.4). The default period is two weeks, and a stop instruction not lifted within eight weeks is also a reason at 90.4. The procedures and the amount due are at 91.1 and 92.1. Clause numbers in this section don't match the TSC, which is a good example of why a short form needs reading in its own right.

A worked example

A fictional housing association buys annual gas boiler servicing across 60 homes on a TSSC, at an illustrative £85 per boiler on a Price List. The Client issues a Task Order for each batch of addresses, with a Task Completion Date. Partway through, it asks for 15 extra homes. It changes the Task Order by instruction, which is event (1). The Contractor sends a quotation for 15 at the Price List rate, and the Client accepts. Nothing further is needed, and the whole exchange fits on one page.

What to watch

• Silence works against the Client. With no Service Manager, the person who places the orders may not be used to contract deadlines. Assign someone to watch the inbox.
• Don't over-engineer it. If you are adding a register, a plan procedure and KPIs by Z clause, you've outgrown this form.
• Know how Task Orders are used. The Task Orders guide focuses on the TSC, but the same ideas about description, dates and pricing apply.
• Check clause numbers. This form's references differ in places, so avoid borrowing from TSC templates.

Related guides

• NEC Contract Types: Which Form Do You Need?
• NEC4 Supply Contract (SC)
• NEC4 Supply Short Contract (SSC)
• NEC4 Design Build and Operate Contract (DBO)
• NEC4 Term Service Contract (TSC)
• NEC4 Term Service Subcontract (TSS)

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.