An NEC Guide for Consultants

NEC for consultants usually means one of two things: being appointed under the Professional Service Contract (PSC), or acting as Project Manager or Supervisor on someone else's Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC). The first calls for tight control of scope and fee. The second calls for independence and time.

Many consultants do both at once, which is where the trouble starts. This page covers the NEC4 PSC, with the main differences from the works contract. For the form, see the Professional Service Contract and the Consultant role. For the broader routine, see managing NEC contracts.

What's different under the PSC

Topic	NEC4 PSC	What to watch
Who runs it	A Service Manager; there is no Supervisor	Check whether the same person also has an ECC role on the job
Your duty	The skill and care normally expected of professionals doing similar work	Anything stricter in the Scope or a Z clause can affect insurance cover
Compensation events	A shorter list than the ECC, 60.1(1) to 60.1(16), numbered differently	Don't use ECC event numbers from memory
Correcting Client-provided information	Instruction under 14.3 and event at 60.1(14)	Check the information you've been given, and warn if it looks wrong
Payment	Option A, C or E; see PSC main Options	Time-based work relies on good records
Defects	Notified at 41.1, corrected under 41.2	Separate an error of yours from a changed brief

Controlling scope creep

This is the main commercial risk for a consultant. The Client's team asks for one more option study or one more meeting, and everyone is keen to help. Under the PSC, changing the Scope is an instruction, and that is a compensation event for which you can seek a change to the Prices and dates. But it helps only if someone notices and acts on it.

1. Know your Scope in detail. Give each team member a one-page summary of deliverables, numbers of meetings and limits.
2. Ask for an instruction. When a request falls outside the Scope, say so politely and ask the Service Manager to instruct it. Offer a quick estimate.
3. Notify on time. The unamended NEC4 PSC gives eight weeks to notify an event (61.3), and the PSS seven. Note the date you became aware.
4. Warn about pressure on the fee. A high number of revisions is a matter worth raising early.
5. Record it even when you choose to absorb it. If you do a small piece free as goodwill, say so. Otherwise the next request is treated as normal.

A fictional example with illustrative figures. A consultant has priced four design review meetings on an Option A activity schedule. By month three, the Client's stakeholder group has asked for monthly reviews, adding eight meetings at around £1,500 each. Raised at the second extra meeting, this becomes a £12,000 instruction and a compensation event. Raised at the end of the job, it may be time-barred, and a poor conversation at best.

Acting as Project Manager or Supervisor

If you are appointed to carry out one of these ECC roles, the PSC is your contract with the Client, while the ECC tells you how to act towards the Contractor. Keep them separate:

• Act as the ECC says. The Project Manager has to make contract decisions the way the contract provides. Being paid by the Client doesn't change what the ECC requires of the role.
• Agree how you'll consult your Client. Set out which decisions need a Client view, and make sure that process fits inside the ECC's reply periods.
• Resource the role. Check your appointment's fee against the real workload. A fixed fee with an unknown number of compensation events is a risk, so ask how the fee moves if the numbers grow.
• Keep your own notes. Assessments and reasons might be examined years later.
• Delegate formally. Tell the Contractor who holds which action (14.2).

See the guide to Project Manager responsibilities and the Supervisor.

Other points to check

• Insurance. Make sure your professional indemnity cover matches the standard of care and any limit under Option X18. See Option X18.
• Information modelling. Option X10 can bring detailed obligations. Read it before pricing. See Option X10.
• Term arrangements. The NEC4 PSC has no term Option. Option G belongs to the NEC3 PSC, so if you hold an NEC3 appointment on that basis, see Option G.
• Your own subconsultants. The NEC4 subcontract form is the Professional Service Subcontract. Check how its periods fit with your own.

NEC3's PSC uses the Employer, and its event numbering differs again, so check the edition before you cite a clause.

Related guides

• Managing NEC Contracts: A Practical Guide
• NEC on Highways Projects
• NEC on Rail Projects
• NEC on Water Projects
• An NEC Guide for Clients
• An NEC Guide for Subcontractors

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.