Quality Management Under NEC4

NEC4 quality management is set out in clause 40 of the NEC4 ECC, which requires the Contractor to run a quality management system, provide a quality policy statement and plan, and keep to that plan. It's a new clause: NEC3 had nothing equivalent in its core clauses, so such requirements had to be written into the Works Information.

This new clause shifted the numbering of the later clauses in Section 4 by one, as the overview of quality and Defects under NEC shows.

What clause 40 requires

Clause	Requirement	What decides the detail
40.1	Contractor operates a quality management system	What the Scope asks for
40.2	Contractor provides a quality policy statement and quality plan to the Project Manager for acceptance, within a stated period	The period in the Contract Data
40.2	Any change to the quality plan is also submitted for acceptance	The clause
40.3	The Project Manager can instruct the Contractor to correct a failure to follow the plan	The clause

Acceptance and reasons for refusal

The only stated reason for not accepting the statement or the plan is that it doesn't allow the Contractor to Provide the Works. Withholding acceptance for another reason could be a compensation event under 60.1(9). This matters in practice: a Project Manager who dislikes the plan's format, or wants a style the Scope doesn't require, needs to look carefully at the reason before rejecting it.

So if the Client wants particular content, the place to say so is in the Scope. Otherwise the test is general, and arguments become hard to settle.

A failure to follow the plan isn't a compensation event

An instruction under 40.3 is about getting the Contractor back in line with its own plan. In the subcontract text, it's expressly stated that such an instruction is not a compensation event. It doesn't need a Defect to exist. A failure to carry out planned audits, or to keep inspection records, can justify the instruction even though the concrete itself turned out fine.

What Clients should put in the Scope

• Any standard the system has to meet, such as a certification requirement.
• The required content of the plan: roles, inspection and test plans, hold and witness points, control of non-conformances and records.
• Audit rights, including who audits and how often.
• The form and retention of quality records at handover.
• How subcontractors and suppliers are covered.

What Contractors should put in the plan

A plan copied from the last job is a common failing. Make it specific to this contract, with:

1. the people responsible, by role;
2. an inspection and test plan linked to the programme's activities and the tests required by the Scope;
3. the notice you'll give before work that would cover up something to be inspected, tied to the clause on tests and inspections;
4. how non-conformances are logged and closed, and how they feed into the Defects register;
5. how subcontractors' quality arrangements are controlled.

Only promise what you will do. Every promise can be enforced by instruction, so an overblown plan creates obligations you may struggle to meet.

A worked example

A fictional rail bridge project. The accepted quality plan commits to a weekly joint inspection and to a signed checklist before each concrete pour. An internal audit shows that three pours went ahead without a signed checklist. The concrete has passed its tests, so no Defect exists.

The Project Manager instructs the Contractor under 40.3 to correct the failure. The Contractor reinstates the checklists and retrains its supervisors. No compensation event results. The gap should still be recorded. If later tests show a problem, the missing checklists will weigh against it, and a pattern of failures could lead to a search for a Defect in the affected pours.

Common mistakes

• Missing the submission date. The Contract Data states the period. Put the date in the first programme and submit early.
• Treating acceptance as approval of the method. Acceptance leaves the Contractor's duty to Provide the Works untouched (14.1).
• Changing the plan without telling anyone. A changed plan goes back for acceptance. Small changes can be grouped and submitted together.
• Using NEC3 assumptions on an NEC4 job. In the move from NEC3 to NEC4, this became a core clause, so you can't assume it is optional.

Related guides

• Quality and Defects Under NEC
• Contractor's Design
• Equipment, Plant and Materials
• The Defects Certificate Explained
• Keeping a Defects Register

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.