Task

The NEC task definition belongs mainly to the term service forms: a Task is a piece of work within the service that the Service Manager calls off through a Task Order. It isn't the Engineering and Construction Contract's term, so if you're on an ECC, you won't find it in your core clauses.

Where it applies, the term sets the boundary between what the Contractor does as a matter of course and what it does only when asked. This page explains the term in the NEC4 Term Service Contract (TSC). Check the numbers and rules against your own contract. For the instruction itself, see Task Orders explained. This page is part of the NEC definitions glossary.

Three linked terms

Term	What it is	Example on a highways term contract
The service	The whole of what the contract provides for	Maintain the network's drainage and surfacing for five years
Task	A specific piece of work within the service	Reline 200m of culvert under the A-road at a given location
Task Order	The Service Manager's instruction to carry out a Task	The numbered order that gives the description, dates and price

The word "within" is doing a lot. A Task that falls outside the service isn't properly a Task, however the order is headed.

Where it appears by form and edition

Form	How Tasks work
NEC4 TSC	Task Orders are in core clause 19
NEC3 TSC	Added through Option X19, a different meaning from X19 in NEC4 TSC. See the X19 guide
NEC3 Professional Service Contract	Option G, in which the Employer instructs Tasks from a Task Schedule
NEC4 ECC	No Task or Task Order in the core clauses

A worked example

A fictional water company term contract, with illustrative figures, using the NEC4 TSC.

1. The Service Manager wants a 150mm valve replaced at a pumping site. It's within the service.
2. The Price List has a rate of £2,400 for this item, so a Task Order issues at that price. It describes the work, states a starting date and gives a Task Completion Date.
3. On arrival, the Contractor finds the valve is a different size, buried under a new slab. The Service Manager instructs a change to the Task. That's a compensation event under 60.1(1) in the TSC.
4. Separately, the order reaches the Contractor two days after its stated start. The TSC lists that as its own compensation event at 60.1(4), which isn't the same as 60.1(4) in the ECC.

Delay on that Task is measured against the Task Completion Date (63.6 in the TSC set) instead of a date for the whole contract.

Why it causes problems

• Thin descriptions. "Repair drainage, Site 4" reads fine on the day. Two years on, nobody can tell whether a late extra was inside the Task. Give location, extent and any exclusions.
• Work done without an order. When a crew attends an emergency and paperwork follows, the Task arguably doesn't exist yet, and neither does the price. Decide how urgent work will be authorised when you start, and keep to it.
• Using Tasks for everything. Routine services are often better priced as a recurring item. If each small job needs an order, the admin can cost more than the work.
• Quoting ECC numbers. The compensation event numbers in the TSC differ from the ECC list. For example, 60.1(4) isn't the same event, so always say which form you're citing.
• Tasks running past the end of the term. Check what your contract says about orders late in the term, particularly on a long framework.

The Term Service Contract guide explains how Tasks fit with the Price List and the plan.

Related guides

• NEC Definitions: A Glossary of Key Terms
• The Works
• Working Areas
• Works Information
• Site Information
• Subcontractor

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.