Programme Submission Template

This NEC programme submission template is a covering note and checklist that makes it easy for the Project Manager to accept a programme. It works for a first programme under clause 31.1 and revised programmes under 32.2 of the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC), and the wording is our own sample, not NEC text.

A reader who can see exactly what changed and why will reply quicker and with fewer objections. For the rules, read the guides to clause 31 and clause 32. It is part of the wider guide to managing NEC contracts.

The covering note

Programme submitted for acceptance	Clause [31.1 / 32.2]
Contract	[Name and number]
Revision	[Number, and the Accepted Programme it follows]
Date submitted	[Date]. We make the reply due on [date], under clause 31.3.
Data date	[Date progress was recorded to]
Files	[Native file and PDF, in the form the Scope asks for]
Planned Completion	[Date, and movement from the last Accepted Programme]
Completion Date	[Date]
Terminal float	[Period, and the change]
Key Dates	[Forecast for each]
What has changed	[Short list: implemented events, delays, changes to method or sequence]
What we need next	[Items due from the Client or Others in the coming period, with dates]
Note	This submission doesn't notify any compensation event, and any event that arises from its content will be notified separately.

The checklist

Attach this with the "shown" column completed. It follows the items required by 31.2 and, for a revision, 32.1, in short form. Read those clauses in your own contract and tick against the full list.

What a programme should show	Clause	Shown?
Planned Completion	31.2	[Where]
The Completion Date, Key Dates, starting date and access dates	31.2	[Where]
Order and timing of the Contractor's work and of work by others	31.2	[Where]
When each Key Date's Condition will be met	31.2	[Where]
Float and time risk allowances	31.2	[Where]
Health and safety needs	31.2	[Where]
When the Contractor needs access, acceptances, things to be provided and information	31.2	[Where]
How each operation will be done	31.2	[Where]
Anything else the Scope asks for	31.2	[Where]
For a revision: actual progress and its effect on remaining work	32.1	[Where]
For a revision: the effect of compensation events (listed in NEC3; still good practice under NEC4)	NEC3 32.1	[Where]
For a revision: how you plan to deal with delays and notified Defects	32.1	[Where]
For a revision: other changes you want to make	32.1	[Where]

A completed "what has changed" section

A fictional water main job, Revision 6.

• CE-014 (implemented, instruction to add two valve chambers) is now included. Planned Completion moves by 5 days. The Completion Date has moved the same 5 days.
• Progress on section 3 is two weeks behind, due to our own pipe delivery. We have added a second gang from week 22, recovering 8 days.
• Sequence change: sections 4 and 5 swapped to fit the road closure granted. No effect on planned Completion.
• Time risk allowance on testing reduced from 5 to 3 days. Terminal float now 9 days (was 7).
• Client-provided valves are now needed by 14 May. Please confirm this suits your supplier.

That takes a few minutes to write, and it often saves a week of questions.

Avoiding non-acceptance

The reasons a Project Manager can give under 31.3 are: the plans aren't practicable, it omits required information, it doesn't represent the plans realistically, or it doesn't comply with the Scope. So your note should head off those four. A Project Manager looking for grounds will usually find it under "required information", and the checklist deals with that.

• Submit on time, even if imperfect. A revision that shows real progress is better than a perfect one a month late. Check the programme revision period.
• Don't bury an entitlement. Showing the effect of an event on a programme isn't notification of it. Use the proper route.
• Chase the reply. Under NEC4, if the Project Manager misses two weeks, you can notify the failure. A further week's silence means treated acceptance. NEC3 has no such rule, though 60.1(6) may help where a late reply causes harm.
• Keep the logic live. A programme of unlinked bars is hard to accept and of little use when assessing delay. The guide for planners covers this.

Related guides

• Managing NEC Contracts: A Practical Guide
• NEC Forms: What You Need
• NEC Templates: A Practical List
• Tracking NEC Contracts in Spreadsheets
• Compensation Event Quotation Template
• Project Manager Instruction Template

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.