Running an NEC Kick-off Meeting

An NEC contract kick-off meeting exists to get both teams working the same procedure from day one. Use it to agree how communications, change, programme and payment will run, not to rehearse the commercial deal, and leave with named owners and dates.

The contract doesn't require this meeting, so its value depends entirely on what you put into it. Hold it just before or around the starting date, and allow two to three hours. It is the second item on the mobilisation list in the first 30 days and one of the best-value hours in managing an NEC contract.

Who should be there

• The Project Manager, plus anyone holding delegated actions
• The Supervisor
• The Contractor's project lead, planner, commercial lead and site manager
• The Client's representative, if the Client will be making decisions the Project Manager relies on
• Major subcontractors for the relevant part, if their timing is critical

Getting planners and site managers in the room matters more than getting senior directors. They are the people who will spot events and run the clocks.

A suggested agenda

Item	What to settle	Clause (NEC4 ECC)
1. How we will work	What mutual trust means here, in specific behaviours	10.1, 10.2
2. The contract in one page	Main and secondary Options, changed periods, Z clauses, Key Dates	Contract Data
3. People and delegation	Who acts for whom; cover during leave; key people	14.2
4. Communications	System or addresses; reference numbers; what counts as a separate notice	13.1, 13.2, 13.7
5. Period for reply	Confirm the period; how an extension is requested and recorded	13.3, 13.5
6. Early warnings	First register; first meeting date; meeting pattern	15.1 to 15.4
7. Programme	Software and format; first programme date; revision interval; float and time risk allowance	31.1, 31.2, 32.2
8. Compensation events	Walk through one example; level of detail expected in quotations; weekly review	61 to 64
9. Quality and tests	Quality plan timing; notice for tests; what the Supervisor wants to witness	40.2, 41.3
10. Payment	First assessment date; application format; records for cost-based Options	50.1, 50.2, 52
11. Subcontracts	Which packages; acceptance of names and documents; how notices pass through	26.2, 26.3
12. Escalation	Who speaks to whom if something stalls, before any formal dispute	Your own arrangement

The exercise that works best

Item 8 is where most of the benefit lies, and it should be a live exercise. Pick a plausible event for your own job and walk it through with real names. Here is a fictional example for a riverside footbridge.

Your site manager finds an unrecorded sewer during piling. Ask the room:

1. Who at site tells whom, and on what day?
2. Who raises the early warning, and who registers the event?
3. Who decides whether this is a physical conditions event under 60.1(12)?
4. Who writes the notification, and who tracks the date?
5. Who prepares the quotation? Who pulls together the programme change?
6. Who replies for the Project Manager, and who covers if that person is away?

Gaps tend to show up quickly. Typically nobody on site knows the eight weeks exist, or the Project Manager's only technical adviser can't give a view within the period. Better to discover that now.

What to agree before anyone leaves

• A one-page list of names, roles, delegations and deputies
• A numbering system for every type of communication
• Dates for the first early warning meeting, the next two commercial meetings and the first programme submission
• The first assessment date, or who will confirm it by when
• An owner for each register, using the list in the registers every NEC contract needs

Traps to avoid

• Agreeing to change the contract in passing. A casual "let's not bother with that notice" can leave both sides exposed. If a process change is really wanted, record it properly and take advice on whether it needs a formal change.
• Treating minutes as notices. Issue any real instruction or warning that arises in the meeting separately afterwards.
• Letting it become a general project start-up. Health and safety, logistics and design coordination need their own sessions. Keep this one to the contract.
• Not repeating it. People change. Run a shortened version for every new team member, and refresh the walk-through when a big package starts.

Those with mostly non-NEC backgrounds will benefit from a little extra time on items 1, 7 and 8. The JCT to NEC translation guide is a useful pre-read for anyone coming from JCT. If the contract is NEC3, swap in risk reduction meetings and the Risk Register for item 6.

Related guides

• Managing NEC Contracts: A Practical Guide
• A Weekly NEC Routine
• Managing NEC Communications
• Tracking Periods for Reply
• NEC Contract Administration
• The First 30 Days on an NEC Contract

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.