Should a Subcontractor Warn the Main Contractor or the PM?

The main contractor. A subcontractor early warning runs to the Contractor, who is your counterparty under clause 15.1 of the NEC4 subcontract (clause 16 in NEC3). The Project Manager isn't a party to your contract and has no role in your procedures.

Who needs to do what next depends on whether the matter also affects the main contract. If it does, passing it to the Project Manager is the Contractor's job, under its own clause. Don't assume it has happened.

What to do when you spot something

1. Warn the Contractor as soon as you're aware. The contract gives no fixed period. The test is prompt awareness, not a set number of days.
2. Send it as its own notification, through whatever system the Subcontract Scope names, and keep it separate from your daily report or a meeting note (13.7).
3. Say which of the four matters it could affect: the Prices, Completion, a Key Date or how the work performs in use. You may also warn of something raising only your own cost.
4. Ask for a meeting if it's urgent. Either side can instruct the other to attend under 15.2.
5. Tell the Contractor if you think it reaches the main contract, so it can act quickly.
6. Notify separately if it's a compensation event. A warning doesn't start or stop your seven weeks under 61.3. See whether a warning counts as notice.

Who talks to whom

Link in the chain	Who warns whom	Register kept by
Main contract	Contractor and Project Manager warn each other	Project Manager
Subcontract	Subcontractor and Contractor warn each other	Contractor
Sub-subcontract	The next tier and its immediate employer warn each other	The employer under that contract

The NEC4 subcontract does give one bridge. If a matter under the main contract also affects your work, the Contractor may instruct you to attend its early warning meeting with the Project Manager. That's the formal route for you to be in the same room. NEC3's subcontract has no direct equivalent, so there it's done by arrangement.

Sample warning

"Early warning under clause 15.1. We've been told by our fabricator that the galvanising works has a four-week backlog. This could delay the Subcontract Completion Date and Key Date 2 for the east stair. We suggest discussing painted-steel alternatives or a different galvaniser. We think this may also affect your programme to the Project Manager. Please instruct a meeting this week if you agree."

This is short and factual. It doesn't blame anyone, and it gives the Contractor what it needs to warn upward. The early warning notice template has a fuller layout.

Why it's worth doing properly

If an experienced subcontractor could have warned and didn't, the Contractor can state that under 61.5 of the subcontract. Your event is then assessed as though you'd warned in time, which can reduce what you recover. You also protect the Contractor, whose position with the Client doesn't improve because you stayed quiet.

Can you ever speak to the Project Manager directly?

The contract gives you no route, and a conversation with the Project Manager doesn't count as a warning under your subcontract. In practice, people on site talk, and that's fine for information. Do it with the Contractor's knowledge, and follow up with your written warning to the Contractor. An immediate danger to people is different. Deal with safety first, by telling anyone who can act, and then record it through the proper route.

How the Contractor is likely to react

It may ask for more detail before passing the warning up, or treat it as an attempt to set up a claim. It may also ask why it wasn't told sooner. Answer the first with facts, and the second by showing a warning says nothing about liability: see does a warning admit fault? If your warning goes unanswered, the steps in what to do when a warning is ignored apply with the Contractor in the Project Manager's place.

On a non-NEC subcontract there may be no early warning clause. Tell the Contractor anyway, in writing. The detailed process is in early warnings for subcontractors, and the wider list of situations is in the NEC questions hub.

Related guides

• NEC Questions Answered: Real Situations on Site
• We Stopped Work for a Safety Reason: Who Pays?
• The PM Told Us to Stop Work: What Should We Do?
• The Work Has Been Suspended for Months: Can We Terminate?
• Our Subcontract Is Not on an NEC Form: Does It Matter?
• Our Main Contractor Has Not Paid Us: What Can a Subcontractor Do?

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.