It depends on your contract's dispute Option, but the assessment takes effect anyway and your next step is to dispute it within any time limit that applies. If you disagree with the PM's assessment of a compensation event, you can't just send another quotation: when the Project Manager notifies its assessment, the event is implemented and the Prices and dates change (66.1).
What decides your position is whether the Project Manager was entitled to assess at all, whether it followed the rules in clause 63, and how much your figure can be supported by records. The numbers below are NEC4 ECC. In NEC3, implementation is clause 65. For similar questions, see NEC questions answered.
Start with the time limits
| Dispute Option | What applies |
|---|---|
| W2 (the Construction Act applies) | Adjudication can start at any time, though NEC4's final assessment process sets a later limit |
| W1, NEC4 subcontract text | Refer to Senior Representatives within 4 weeks of becoming aware of the action |
| W1, NEC3 | Notify within 4 weeks of becoming aware, then refer to the Adjudicator 2 to 4 weeks later |
Our page on dispute time limits has the full table. Diarise from the date you received the assessment, not from when you read the detail.
Check it, line by line
- Was it allowed? Clause 64.1 gives only four triggers: no quotation in time, a quotation not correctly assessed (with no revised quotation instructed), or a programme missing or not accepted when you quoted.
- Was it on time? 64.3 gives the same period you'd have had to quote, and it must include details. If it's late and you served notice, 64.4 can make your quotation accepted.
- Are the details enough? You're entitled to see how it was worked out. Ask if you can't follow it.
- Then test the figures against the table below.
- Write back within days. A single short letter sets out what's wrong and by how much.
Where assessments tend to go wrong
| Issue | What to look for | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong basis | Bill rates or tender rates used without agreement | Defined Cost plus Fee (63.1), unless agreed (63.2) |
| Wrong dividing date | Actual cost used for work that should be forecast, or the other way round | 63.1 |
| Risk allowances left out | A pure "what happened" estimate with no allowance for real risks that aren't events | 63.8 |
| Delay measured wrongly | Measured against current progress, or terminal float removed | 63.5, Accepted Programme at the dividing date |
| Time-related cost left out | Time granted but no prolongation in the Prices | See prolongation |
| Disruption ignored | Only the direct work priced | See disruption |
| Early warning assumption | Reduced for a missing warning, without a statement in the instruction | 61.5, 63.7 |
| Incompetence assumed | Reduced without saying what a competent response would have been | 63.9 |
A short reply you could adapt
What's likely to come back
The Project Manager may say it can't change an implemented assessment. It's right that 66.3 limits revision, and a change of mind would itself be a changed decision. So be realistic about this: the route for a real disagreement is normally a dispute, or an agreement with the Client that's recorded properly. You might also be told your records didn't support your figure. Under Options C, D and E, you're still paid Defined Cost unless it's disallowed, but a low assessment leaves the target or forecast lower. See how assessment works.
Is it worth disputing?
That's a commercial decision. Compare the gap with the cost and management time of adjudication; consider whether several events show a pattern; and take advice if a principle is at stake that will repeat across the job. Don't leave it for the end of the contract in the hope of a global deal. Each event's limit runs by itself, and NEC4's final assessment closes the door at the end. See disagreeing with the final assessment.
Related guides
- NEC Questions Answered: Real Situations on Site
- We Cannot Price the Quotation Yet Because Facts Are Unknown
- The Work Is Already Done: How Do We Quote?
- Actual Cost Came In Higher Than Our Accepted Quotation
- The PM Has Not Replied to Our Quotation
- The PM Rejected Our Compensation Event Without Reasons
How this looks in Contract Status
The quotation date has passed, and the record offers the Project Manager's assessment. See the worked example.
See how this works in practice
Click through Contract Status with sample contracts: raise the notice, reply to it, and watch both sides of one record.
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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.