NEC4 ECS clause index
166 references from the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Subcontract, grouped by topic. These are our own plain words, not the contract's wording, so keep your own copy to hand.
General rules and communications
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 13.1 | Every communication the subcontract calls for has to be something that can be read, copied and kept on record. Guide |
| 13.3 | Where the subcontract asks for an answer, it is given within the period for reply unless the subcontract says otherwise. Guide |
| 13.4 | The Contractor answers anything sent for acceptance: it accepts it, or explains why not so the Subcontractor can send it again. Guide |
| 13.5 | The period for reply to a communication can be extended only if both agree before the reply is due. Guide |
| X4.1 | (Option X4) The Subcontractor gives the Contractor a guarantee from its ultimate holding company, in the form the Subcontract Scope sets out Guide |
| X10.4 | (Option X10) The Subcontractor sends its Information Execution Plan for acceptance, and a revised one when instructed Guide |
| X13.1 | (Option X13) A performance bond is provided to the Contractor by the Subcontractor, from a bank or insurer the Contractor has accepted Guide |
| X16.3 | (Option X16) The Subcontractor may give a retention bond, from a bank or insurer, in the form the Subcontract Scope sets out Guide |
| Y3.3 | (Option Y(UK)3) The Contractor tells the Subcontractor the name of a beneficiary that the Subcontract Data describes only by type Guide |
Instructions
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 14.3 | An instruction altering the Subcontract Scope or a Key Date Guide |
| 15.2 | An instruction to attend an early warning meeting Guide |
| 16.2 | An instruction changing the Subcontract Scope after accepting a proposal from the Subcontractor to reduce what the Contractor pays Guide |
| 17.1 | An instruction saying how an ambiguity or inconsistency between the documents is to be resolved Guide |
| 17.2 | An instruction changing the Subcontract Scope because it asks for something illegal or impossible Guide |
| 19.1 | An instruction on how to handle an event that prevents the work (prevention) Guide |
| 23.1 | An instruction to send the design of an item of Equipment for acceptance Guide |
| 24.2 | An instruction, with reasons, to remove a person from the work Guide |
| 32.2 | An instruction to send a revised programme Guide |
| 34.1 | An instruction to stop work or not to start it Guide |
| 34.1 | An instruction that stopped work may restart or start, or that it is taken out of the Subcontract Scope Guide |
| 36.1 | An instruction to quote for finishing early (acceleration) Guide |
| 40.3 | An instruction to put right a failure to follow the quality plan Guide |
| 43.1 | An instruction, with reasons, to search for a Defect Guide |
| 45.2 | An instruction accepting a Defect instead of having it corrected (for lower Prices, an earlier Subcontract Completion Date or both) Guide |
| 60.6 | (Options B and D) An instruction correcting a mistake in the Bill of Quantities Guide |
| 62.1 | An instruction to send alternative quotations for a compensation event Guide |
| 73.1 | An instruction on what to do with a valuable or historic object found on the Site Guide |
| 92.2 | An instruction on termination to leave the Site, take away Equipment, Plant and Materials, and pass over the benefit of subsubcontracts Guide |
Early warnings
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 15.1 | A rise in the total of the Prices Guide |
| 15.1 | A delay to Completion Guide |
| 15.1 | A delay in meeting a Key Date Guide |
| 15.1 | Poorer performance of the subcontract works once in use Guide |
| 15.1 | A rise in the Subcontractor's own total cost (a warning the Subcontractor may give) Guide |
| 15.1 | Either side warns the other as soon as it knows of something that could push up the total of the Prices, or delay Completion or a Key Date, or harm how the subcontract works perform in use. The Contractor puts each one on the Early Warning Register. Guide |
| 15.3 | An early warning meeting looks for ways to avoid or reduce the registered matters, agrees who does what about them, and decides which have been dealt with or have passed and can come off the Register. Guide |
| 15.4 | After each early warning meeting the Contractor updates the Early Warning Register with the decisions taken and sends it to the Subcontractor, with an instruction for any change to the Subcontract Scope those decisions need. Guide |
Submissions for acceptance
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 21.2 | The Subcontractor sends the details of its design that the Subcontract Scope calls for to the Contractor for acceptance, and holds back the work it covers until it is accepted. Guide |
| 21.2 | The design does not meet the Subcontract Scope Guide |
| 21.2 | The design does not meet the applicable law Guide |
| 23.1 | When the Contractor instructs it, the Subcontractor sends the design of an item of Equipment for acceptance. Guide |
| 23.1 | With the item as designed, the subcontract works could not be provided as the Subcontract Scope requires Guide |
| 23.1 | With the item as designed, the subcontract works could not be provided in line with the Subcontractor's accepted design Guide |
| 23.1 | With the item as designed, the subcontract works could not be provided within the applicable law Guide |
| 24.1 | The Subcontractor proposes someone to replace a key person named in the Subcontract Data, with their name, relevant qualifications and experience, for acceptance. Guide |
| 24.1 | The proposed person is less qualified or experienced for the job than the key person they replace Guide |
| 26.2 | The Subcontractor sends the name of each firm it proposes to subcontract work to, for acceptance before it appoints them. Guide |
| 26.2 | Appointing them would stop the Subcontractor providing the subcontract works Guide |
| 26.3 | The Subcontractor sends the documents it proposes for each of its subsubcontracts (pricing left out) for acceptance. This is not needed for an NEC form used without changes, or where the Contractor has agreed to do without it. Guide |
| 26.3 | The documents would stop the Subcontractor providing the subcontract works Guide |
| 26.3 | The documents leave out a statement that the parties will work together in mutual trust and co-operation Guide |
| 40.2 | Within the period in the Subcontract Data, the Subcontractor gives the Contractor its quality policy statement and quality plan for acceptance, and any changed quality plan later. Guide |
| 40.2 | The quality policy statement or quality plan would not let the Subcontractor provide the subcontract works Guide |
| 55.3 | (Option A) When the Subcontractor changes how it plans to work, or corrects the activity schedule to match the Subcontract Scope, it sends a revised activity schedule for acceptance. Guide |
| 55.4 | (Option A) The revised schedule does not match the operations in the Accepted Programme Guide |
| 55.4 | (Option A) Changed Prices are not spread reasonably across the activities Guide |
| 55.4 | (Option A) The total of the Prices has changed Guide |
| 84.1 | Before the subcontract starting date and at each renewal, the Subcontractor sends certificates, signed by its insurer or broker, showing the insurance the subcontract requires is in force, for acceptance. Guide |
| 84.1 | The insurance does not meet what the subcontract requires Guide |
| X4.1 | (Option X4) The Subcontractor gives the Contractor its ultimate holding company's guarantee of its performance, worded as the Subcontract Scope sets out Guide |
| X13.1 | (Option X13) A performance bond for the amount in the Subcontract Data, given to the Contractor by the Subcontractor from a bank or insurer the Contractor has accepted Guide |
| X13.1 | (Option X13) The bank or insurer is not financially strong enough to back the bond Guide |
| X14.2 | (Option X14) Where the Subcontract Data asks for an advanced payment bond, the Subcontractor provides it from a bank or insurer the Contractor has accepted Guide |
| X14.2 | (Option X14) The bank or insurer is not financially strong enough to back the bond Guide |
Key Dates
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 25.3 | If a Key Date's Condition is not met in time and the Contractor has to pay more as a result, the Subcontractor pays that extra cost, as assessed by the Contractor. Guide |
| 30.3 | Each Key Date's Condition has to be met by that Key Date; that is the Subcontractor's responsibility. Guide |
Programme
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 31.1 | Unless the Subcontract Data already names a programme, the Subcontractor sends its first programme for the Contractor to accept, within the period the Subcontract Data sets. Guide |
| 31.2 | A programme sent for acceptance is in the form the Subcontract Scope asks for and sets out, among other things: planned Completion; the Subcontract Completion Date, Key Dates, subcontract starting date and subcontract access dates; the order and timing of the Subcontractor's work and of work by others; when each Key Date's Condition will be met; float, time risk allowances and health and safety needs; when the Subcontractor needs access, acceptances, things to be provided and information; and how each operation will be done. Guide |
| 31.3 | The Contractor answers a programme sent for acceptance within the period allowed, either accepting it or explaining why not. Guide |
| 31.3 | The Contractor accepts the programme. Guide |
| 31.3 | The Contractor rejects the programme for one of the reasons the subcontract allows: its plans are impractical, it leaves out required information, it is unrealistic about the Subcontractor's plans, or it conflicts with the Subcontract Scope. Guide |
| 31.3 | If the Contractor neither accepts nor rejects a programme in time, the Subcontractor may notify that failure. If there is still no answer in the further time the subcontract allows, the programme counts as accepted. Guide |
| 32.1 | A revised programme records progress and how it affects the remaining work, the effect of compensation events, the plan for delays and notified Defects, and any other changes the Subcontractor wants to make. Guide |
| 32.2 | The Subcontractor sends a revised programme for acceptance when instructed (within the period for reply), whenever it chooses, and at least as often as the Subcontract Data requires. Guide |
Tests and inspections
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 41.1 | The Subcontract Scope and the law set out which tests and inspections are done, and the Subcontract Scope says who does each one. Guide |
| 41.2 | The Contractor (and the Subcontractor, where the Subcontract Scope says so) provides what tests and inspections need: the materials, facilities and samples the Subcontract Scope sets out. Guide |
| 41.3 | Each side tells the other before it starts each of its tests or inspections. The Subcontractor warns early enough for the test or inspection to be set up and carried out before any work that would cover it up. Guide |
| 41.3 | Each side tells the other the results of each of its tests and inspections. Guide |
| 41.3 | The Contractor may watch any test the Subcontractor does. Guide |
| 41.4 | If a test or inspection shows a Defect, the Subcontractor corrects it and the test or inspection is done again. Guide |
| 41.5 | The Contractor carries out its tests and inspections without holding up the work, or a payment that depends on a test passing, more than it needs to. Guide |
| 41.6 | When a test or inspection has to be done again because it found a Defect, the Contractor assesses what the repeat cost the Contractor, and the Subcontractor pays that. Guide |
| 42.1 | Plant and Materials that the Subcontract Scope says are tested or inspected before delivery are not brought to the Working Areas until the Subcontractor has been told that they passed. Guide |
Searching for Defects
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 43.1 | A search may mean opening up work and putting it back (uncovering and re-covering, taking apart and re-erecting), supplying what tests and inspections need, and carrying out tests and inspections beyond those the Subcontract Scope asks for. Guide |
Defects
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 43.2 | Up to the defects date, each side tells the other of every Defect it finds, straight away. Guide |
| 44.2 | A notified Defect has to be put right by the Subcontractor before its defect correction period ends. Guide |
| 46.1 | If the Subcontractor had access but left a notified Defect uncorrected in time, the Contractor assesses what it costs to have others correct it, and the Subcontractor pays that. Guide |
| 46.2 | Where the Subcontractor is not given access to put right a notified Defect by the defects date, it pays the Contractor's assessment of what the repair would have cost it. Guide |
| X18.6 | (Option X18) The Subcontractor is liable for a matter only if it was notified before the end of liability date Guide |
Payment
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 50.1 | The amount due is assessed by the Contractor on each assessment date, which comes round at the interval set in the Subcontract Data. Guide |
| 50.2 | Before each assessment date the Subcontractor sends the Contractor an application for payment, setting out the amount it considers due and how it was worked out. Guide |
| 50.5 | If the Subcontract Data names no programme, the Contractor holds back a quarter of each assessment's Price for Work Done to Date until the Subcontractor sends a first programme with all the information the subcontract requires. Guide |
| 51.1 | Payment certificates are issued by the Contractor within the time allowed after each assessment date. Guide |
| 51.2 | Each certified sum is paid within the time allowed; any late payment, including one late because no certificate was issued, carries interest. Guide |
| 51.3 | An amount corrected in a later certificate carries interest. Guide |
| X7.1 | (Option X7) The Subcontractor pays the daily delay damages in the Subcontract Data for each day Completion is later than the Subcontract Completion Date Guide |
| Y2.3 | (Option Y(UK)2) To pay less than the notified sum, a Party gives notice of the sum it considers due, and the basis for it, no later than the prescribed period (seven days) ahead of the final date for payment. Guide |
Final assessment
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 53.1 | The Contractor assesses the final amount due, and certifies any final payment, within the time the subcontract allows after the Defects Certificate (or a termination certificate). Guide |
| 53.2 | If the Contractor does not make the final assessment in time, the Subcontractor may send its own assessment of the final amount due, with the details. Guide |
| 53.3 | The final assessment becomes conclusive unless a Party refers a dispute about it within the time the subcontract allows. Guide |
Termination
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 53.1 | After a termination certificate the final amount due is assessed within the stated time, as the final assessment. Guide |
| 90.1 | To terminate, a Party tells the other Party and the Contractor, giving its reason. Guide |
| 90.1 | The Contractor certifies termination to both Parties promptly when the reason given is one the subcontract allows. Guide |
| 91.2 | If the Subcontractor does not put right in time a default the Contractor notified, the Contractor may terminate. Guide |
| 91.3 | If the Subcontractor does not stop in time a default it was told of, the Contractor may terminate. Guide |
| 91.4 | An amount due left unpaid for the stated weeks after it should have been paid lets the Subcontractor terminate. Guide |
| 92.1 | What happens on termination: the Contractor may finish the subcontract works, and the other procedures the Termination Table names for the reason. Guide |
| 93.1 | What the amount due on termination is made up of, with the items the Termination Table adds or takes off for the reason. Guide |
Compensation events
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 60.1(1) | The Contractor changes the Subcontract Scope by instruction (except one made to accept a Defect, or one altering the Subcontractor's own design at the Subcontractor's request or to fit other Subcontract Scope) Guide |
| 60.1(2) | Access to part of the Site comes late: after both its subcontract access date and the date on the Accepted Programme Guide |
| 60.1(3) | Something the Contractor has to provide arrives later than the Accepted Programme shows Guide |
| 60.1(4) | The Contractor instructs that work stops or does not start, or changes a Key Date Guide |
| 60.1(5) | The Contractor, the Client or Others work outside the times on the Accepted Programme or the conditions in the Subcontract Scope, or do Site work the Subcontract Scope leaves out Guide |
| 60.1(6) | A communication from the Subcontractor gets no reply from the Contractor in the time the subcontract sets Guide |
| 60.1(7) | The Contractor instructs what to do with a valuable or historic object found on the Site Guide |
| 60.1(8) | The Contractor goes back on a decision already given to the Subcontractor Guide |
| 60.1(9) | The Contractor withholds an acceptance for a reason the subcontract does not give (acceptance of an acceleration quotation, or of a quotation for leaving a Defect, excepted) Guide |
| 60.1(10) | A search for a Defect is instructed and finds none (unless it was needed only because the Subcontractor gave too little notice of work that would block a required test or inspection) Guide |
| 60.1(11) | The Contractor holds work up unnecessarily with a test or inspection Guide |
| 60.1(12) | The Subcontractor finds physical conditions on the Site, other than weather, so unlikely, as seen at the Subcontract Date, that an experienced subcontractor could not reasonably have allowed for them (only the part beyond a reasonable allowance counts) Guide |
| 60.1(13) | A month's weather, recorded before the Subcontract Completion Date at the place the Subcontract Data names, that the weather data shows to happen, on average, less often than once in ten years (only the excess counts) Guide |
| 60.1(14) | An event that the subcontract's conditions list among the Client's or the Contractor's liabilities Guide |
| 60.1(15) | Part of the subcontract works is taken over (and certified) while Completion and the Subcontract Completion Date are both still to come Guide |
| 60.1(16) | The Contractor fails to supply the materials, facilities or samples for testing that the Subcontract Scope says it will Guide |
| 60.1(17) | The Contractor corrects an assumption it gave about a compensation event Guide |
| 60.1(18) | Any other breach of subcontract by the Contractor that no other compensation event covers Guide |
| 60.1(19) | An event neither Party could prevent, so unlikely, as seen at the Subcontract Date, that an experienced subcontractor could not reasonably have allowed for it, which stops the Subcontractor finishing the subcontract works (or finishing by the Accepted Programme date) and is not another compensation event Guide |
| 60.1(20) | The Contractor turns down the Subcontractor's quotation for a proposed instruction Guide |
| 60.1(21) | An extra compensation event that the Subcontract Data lists happens Guide |
| 60.4 | (Options B and D) The final quantity of an item differs from the Bill of Quantities, in the cases the subcontract sets out Guide |
| 60.5 | (Options B and D) A quantity difference against the Bill of Quantities delays Completion or a Key Date Guide |
| 60.6 | (Options B and D) A mistake in the Bill of Quantities is corrected Guide |
| 61.1 | When the Contractor causes an event with an instruction, a notification, a certificate or a changed decision, the Contractor notifies it as a compensation event at that same time. Guide |
| 61.2 | Along with the notification, the Contractor asks the Subcontractor for quotations, unless the event is the Subcontractor's fault or quotations are already in. Guide |
| 61.3 | The Subcontractor notifies an event it believes is a compensation event that the Contractor has not notified. If it is late (outside the time the subcontract allows), the Prices and dates do not change, unless the event came from an instruction, notification, certificate or changed decision of the Contractor. Guide |
| 61.4 | The Contractor answers a compensation event the Subcontractor has notified within the time allowed: either nothing changes, or the Subcontractor is to send quotations. Guide |
| 61.4 | This is a compensation event, and the Subcontractor is to send quotations. Guide |
| 61.4 | The Prices and dates stay as they are: the event is the Subcontractor's fault, or it has not occurred and is not expected to, or it was notified too late, or it does not affect Defined Cost, Completion or a Key Date, or the subcontract does not list it as a compensation event. Guide |
| 61.4 | If the Contractor gives no answer, the Subcontractor may notify that failure. If there is still no answer in the time the subcontract allows, the event counts as a compensation event and quotations count as instructed. Guide |
| X2.1 | (Option X2) A change in the law of the Site's country that takes effect after the Subcontract Date Guide |
| X12.3(6) | (Option X12) The Core Group changes the Partnering Information by instruction Guide |
| X12.3(7) | (Option X12) The Subcontractor changes its programme to follow the Core Group's revised timetable Guide |
| X14.2 | (Option X14) The advanced payment is made late Guide |
| X15.2 | (Option X15) The Subcontractor corrects a Defect it is not liable for Guide |
Replies and assessments
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 61.6 | Where the effects are too uncertain to forecast, the Contractor sets assumptions for the quotations, and notifies a correction if one turns out wrong. Guide |
| 63.1 | The change to the Prices is worked out from the effect on what the work done before the dividing date actually cost (Defined Cost), what the work after it is forecast to cost, and the resulting Fee. That date is the day of the instruction, notification, certificate or changed decision behind the event; for any other event, the day it was notified. Guide |
| 63.5 | The delay to the Subcontract Completion Date, or to a Key Date, is how much later the event makes planned Completion (or the planned date for meeting that Key Date's Condition) than the Accepted Programme shows as it stood at the dividing date. Guide |
| 64.1 | The Contractor makes its own assessment if the Subcontractor has not quoted in time, has assessed the event wrongly and no revised quotation is asked for, has not sent a programme the subcontract requires, or its latest programme has not been accepted for a reason the subcontract gives. Guide |
| 64.2 | With no Accepted Programme, or no programme from the Subcontractor as required, the Contractor assesses the event against its own view of the programme for the remaining work. Guide |
| 64.3 | The Contractor gives its assessment, with the details, within the time the Subcontractor would have had to quote, counted from when the need for it became clear. Guide |
| 64.4 | If the Contractor does not assess in time, the Subcontractor may notify that failure. If there is still no answer in the time the subcontract allows, the Subcontractor's quotation counts as accepted. Guide |
| 66.1 | A compensation event is implemented once the Contractor accepts the quotation, notifies its own assessment, or a quotation counts as accepted. Guide |
| 66.3 | Once implemented, a compensation event's assessment stays as it is, except where the subcontract allows a change. Guide |
Quotations
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 62.2 | Each quotation sets out how much the Prices should change and any delay the event causes to Key Dates and the Subcontract Completion Date, with the working behind it and any changes the Accepted Programme needs. Guide |
| 62.3 | The Subcontractor sends quotations within the time allowed after being asked for them. Guide |
| 62.3 | The Contractor answers a quotation within the time allowed: an instruction to send a revised quotation, an acceptance, or notice that it will make its own assessment. Guide |
| 62.3 | The quotation is accepted. Guide |
| 62.3 | The Subcontractor is to send a revised quotation. Guide |
| 62.3 | The Contractor will make its own assessment. Guide |
| 62.4 | A revised quotation can be asked for only once the reasons have been explained; the Subcontractor sends it within the time allowed. Guide |
| 62.5 | The time to send a quotation, or to answer one, can be extended only if both agree before it runs out. Guide |
| 62.6 | If the Contractor does not answer a quotation in time, the Subcontractor may notify that failure. If there is still no answer in the time the subcontract allows, the quotation counts as accepted. Guide |
Proposed instructions
| Clause | In plain English |
|---|---|
| 65.1 | The Contractor may ask for a quotation for an instruction it is only proposing, saying by when it may give it; the Subcontractor does not act on it unless it is given. Guide |
| 65.2 | The Contractor answers the quotation by the date it may give the instruction: an instruction to send a revised quotation, the instruction itself with the quotation accepted, or notice that the quotation is not accepted (no answer in time counts as not accepted). Guide |
| 65.2 | The instruction is given, as a compensation event, and the quotation is accepted. Guide |
| 65.2 | A revised quotation is asked for, with the reasons. Guide |
| 65.2 | The quotation is not accepted. Guide |
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General information in our own words, not legal advice. Your own contract, its Contract Data and any Z clauses decide.