Disruption is recovered as part of the NEC compensation event that causes it, not through a separate claim. The assessment covers the event's whole effect on Defined Cost under clause 63.1, and that includes the extra hours, plant and supervision you need because the work has become harder to do.
So what decides recovery is whether you identify it in time for the quotation, whether a listed event caused it, and whether your records show the effect. If you leave it out, you probably won't get a second chance. See the rest of our NEC questions.
What to do when the disruption starts
- Warn and notify. If you're the notifying party, the eight weeks under clause 61.3 runs from awareness of the event, not from when you've worked out the productivity loss.
- Start measuring on the same day. Record output per shift on the affected work, along with an equivalent unaffected area, if there is one.
- Record the cause on the day. A diary entry saying "gang stood down for 3 hours; access blocked by Client's tenant" is worth more than an analysis a year later.
- Try to reduce it, and keep a note of what you tried. The assessment assumes you'd react competently and promptly (63.9).
- Put it in the quotation. Once implemented, an event isn't reopened because the forecast proved wrong (66.3; 65.2 in NEC3), and the rights in the assessment are your only rights for it (63.6). Don't send a quotation "excluding disruption" and hope.
Prolongation and disruption side by side
| Prolongation | Disruption | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Same work takes place, later, and Site stays open longer | Work costs more because it's less efficient |
| Delay to Completion needed? | Yes | No. A compensation event can have a cost effect with no time effect |
| Main evidence | Programme analysis and time-related cost | Output records, allocation sheets, labour hours |
| Typical causes | Late access, late Client items | Out-of-sequence working, repeated stoppages, restricted working areas, stacked trades, an instruction mid-operation |
How to put a price on it
A fictional fit-out with illustrative figures. The Contractor's tender plan was 40 m² of partitions per gang per day. A Client-led change to its tenant's move, instructed in week 12, forces the gang to work around occupied rooms.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Output in unaffected Level 2, weeks 8 to 11 | 38 m² per day |
| Forecast output on affected Level 3 | 28 m² per day |
| Remaining area on Level 3 | 840 m² |
| Days at 38 m² | about 22 |
| Days at 28 m² | 30 |
| Extra days at an illustrative £1,600 a gang day | 8 days, £12,800 |
Note what it compares against: actual output elsewhere, not the tender plan. The clause measures the event's effect on what the job would otherwise have cost, so the 40 m² isn't the starting point if the gang never achieved it. Since the dividing date is before most of this work, it goes in as a forecast with a clear, evidenced basis. If you can't forecast it reasonably, ask for an assumption under 61.6. See unknown facts.
Other evidence that helps
- Allocation sheets split by area, not just by trade
- Delay and stoppage logs with times, causes and who was told
- Photos of the areas involved, on the day
- Your own and subcontractors' records, kept in the same form
- A note on anything else that reduced output at that time, such as weather or a new starter gang: if you don't raise this, the Project Manager will
The pushback to expect
- "That's just your poor productivity." The comparison above answers this, as long as it's real.
- "The cumulative effect of lots of small events." NEC assesses event by event. Combining them makes causation hard to show, and it's the global claim problem. Allocate as you go.
- "You didn't tell us at the time." A statement under clause 61.5 may reduce it: see the early warning effect.
Contract and practice
The contract doesn't use the word disruption, and it doesn't need to: any effect on Defined Cost counts. In practice, it's the head most often missed, because it doesn't show on a programme and only surfaces when the gang's hours have run out. Under Options C and D, Defined Cost is paid either way, so disruption matters for the target. Under Option A it's your money. If a large disruption account is in dispute, take specialist and legal advice on the method.
Related guides
- NEC Questions Answered: Real Situations on Site
- Can We Submit One Global Claim for Everything?
- Can We Recover Loss of Profit on Omitted Work?
- The Client Wants to Omit Work: Can They?
- The PM Keeps Asking for Revised Quotations
- How Do We Claim Prolongation Under NEC?
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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.