Completion Date and Planned Completion

The NEC Completion Date is the contractual date by which the Contractor is to reach Completion. Planned Completion is the date the Contractor forecasts on its programme. The first moves only as the contract allows. The second moves whenever the Contractor's plan does.

Mixing them up leads to wrong delay assessments, wrong damages discussions and misleading reports. The terms work the same way in NEC3 and NEC4 ECC. This guide is part of the NEC programme guide, and the term itself is covered in the Completion Date definition.

Side by side

	Completion Date	Planned Completion
Where it's set	Contract Data (by the Client, or the Contractor if the Contract Data lets it decide)	Each programme, under 31.2
Defined term?	Yes	No; it's what the programme forecasts
How it changes	Implemented compensation event; accepted acceleration quotation	The Contractor revises the programme to reflect its plan
What it drives	Delay damages under Option X7; bonus under Option X6; some take over rules	The measuring point for compensation event delay
Can the Project Manager change it directly?	Only by a mechanism in the contract	No, but it can decline a programme for a listed reason

Why the difference matters

Compensation events. NEC4 63.5 (NEC3 63.3) measures delay through planned Completion, and applies that delay to the Completion Date. The gap between the two remains. Our terminal float guide explains the consequence.

Delay damages. Under Option X7, damages run from the Completion Date, not from planned Completion. A programme showing a late planned Completion doesn't itself trigger anything. It just warns everyone what is likely. Damages are covered in the NEC delay damages guide.

Reporting. "We are four weeks behind" can mean behind the previous programme, behind the Completion Date, or something else. Say which, in numbers.

A programme showing lateness

A planned Completion after the Completion Date causes plenty of argument. Here is how we read it:

• It is not, on its own, a reason for non-acceptance. The four reasons in 31.3 don't mention it.
• Acceptance doesn't change the Completion Date, and doesn't waive delay damages.
• It may be a matter for an early warning, because Completion could be delayed (NEC4 15.1; NEC3 16.1).
• If the Contractor considers a compensation event has caused the lateness, that has to go through the compensation event route. Showing it on a programme isn't a notification of the event.

A worked example

A fictional office fit-out, with weeks as illustrative dates. At the start, the Completion Date is week 30 and planned Completion is week 28.

What happens	Completion Date	Planned Completion	Position
Start	Week 30	Week 28	Two weeks ahead
Contractor's subcontractor is three weeks late	Week 30	Week 31	One week behind; X7 exposure if not recovered
Compensation event implemented: two weeks' delay assessed	Week 32	Week 33	Still one week behind
Contractor adds a shift at its own cost, recovering two weeks	Week 32	Week 31	One week ahead

Note the third row. The compensation event doesn't erase the Contractor's own delay. It moves both dates by two weeks, keeping the Contractor's one-week shortfall. This assumes the programme used for the assessment already showed the three-week slip, as a programme brought up to the dividing date should.

How the date actually moves

1. A compensation event is implemented, whether through acceptance of a quotation, the Project Manager's assessment or a quotation treated as accepted (NEC4 66.1; NEC3 65.1). See the implementation guide.
2. An acceleration quotation is accepted under clause 36, moving the date earlier.

A letter, a meeting note or an accepted programme doesn't do it. If both Parties want to change the date, use one of these routes, or record a formal contract amendment. On site, a date agreed informally has a way of being remembered differently later. With Option X5, each section has its own date; see sectional completion.

Related guides

• The NEC Programme: A Complete Guide
• What Counts as Completion?
• Key Dates in NEC
• Sectional Completion
• Time Risk Allowance in NEC
• Who Owns Float in NEC?

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.