Scope

NEC Scope is the NEC4 term for the information that specifies and describes the works, or sets constraints on how the Contractor is to provide them. It's found either in the documents the Contract Data names or in an instruction given under the contract. In NEC3, the same idea was called Works Information.

The Scope is the contract's reference point for almost everything. The Contractor's core duty is to provide the works in line with it (clause 20.1), a Defect is mostly defined against it, and a change to it is usually a compensation event. So a muddled Scope affects cost, time and quality all at once. This page is part of the NEC definitions glossary.

What goes in, and what doesn't

Belongs in the Scope	Belongs elsewhere
Drawings, specifications, standards	Boundaries of the site: Contract Data
Constraints: working hours, access routes, sequencing, noise limits	Ground investigation results: Site Information
What the Client will provide, and when	Dates and periods the form asks for: Contract Data
Work to be finished by the Completion Date	Payment terms and legal changes: additional conditions under Option Z
Requirements for the programme, quality and communications	Tender queries with no clear status: resolve before signing

The dividing line matters. Payment rules hidden in a specification might not work as drafting, and information written in the Site Information can't be treated as a requirement on the Contractor.

Changing it

The Project Manager changes the Scope by instruction (14.3). That is a compensation event under 60.1(1) in most cases. The exceptions are an instruction accepting a Defect, and an altered Contractor's design that the Contractor itself requested or that's needed to fit other parts of the Scope.

The instruction also matters because, under the definition, information in an instruction becomes part of the Scope. A confirming email is not necessarily an instruction, but an instruction to do something the Scope never mentioned adds to it, whether or not anybody thinks of it that way.

A worked example

A fictional primary school extension. The Client's specification says the external doors are powder-coated aluminium, while the door schedule in the same Scope says timber. The Contractor prices aluminium.

1. The Project Manager and the Contractor notify each other as soon as either spots the conflict (17.1).
2. The Project Manager states how to resolve it: timber, as the school has decided.
3. Because that's a change to resolve an inconsistency, the assessment uses the interpretation most favourable to the Party that didn't provide the Scope (63.10). Here, that's the Contractor. Assume aluminium was the priced basis.
4. Suppose aluminium costs £20,000 and timber £28,000, as illustrative figures. The Prices rise by the £8,000 difference plus the resulting Fee.

The same logic runs the other way for Scope provided by the Contractor, for instance a design in the Contractor's proposals. Then the Client gets the favourable reading.

Why it causes problems

• Everything-included lists. Naming every tender document as Scope brings their conflicts into the contract.
• Vague requirements. "To the Project Manager's satisfaction" gives no real test, and may be hard to apply fairly.
• Constraints added after tender. A new working hours limit introduced in a meeting is a change in the Scope if it's made by instruction, which means it's a compensation event. Treat it as one.
• Unlisted documents. Something that isn't in the documents the Contract Data names isn't Scope, no matter how often it's been referred to.
• Mixed-up editions. See Works Information versus Scope if you're updating a document set.

Keep it clean

1. Have one person read every Scope document against the others before tender.
2. List final documents by title and revision in the Contract Data.
3. State the work needed by the Completion Date.
4. Avoid "to include" wording that leaves the extent open.
5. Keep an index of each later instruction that changes the Scope, so someone can tell what the Scope is today.

Related guides

• NEC Definitions: A Glossary of Key Terms
• Site
• Site Information
• Subcontractor
• Price for Work Done to Date
• Risk Register

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.