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Addition/deletion of activities and relationship changes to updates to an approved programme under NEC3

8 replies [Last post]
Emmanuelle Prefol
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Hi,

Does anyone know of any provisions for projects managed under NEC3 regarding addition/deletion of activities and relationship changes to an approved programme?

Is there an obligation on the contractor to provide list of added/deleted activities, relationships changed and reasons why?

Thanks.

E.

Replies

Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 23 hours 42 min ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5229

Gary,

Thank you a lot, I will be reading the paper by Humphery Lloyd, definitively NEC is a different view worth exploring.

Rafael

 

Gary Whitehead
User offline. Last seen 4 years 46 weeks ago. Offline

Rafael,

 

I'm not aware of any way you can get hold of a copy of the NEC3 contract without paying for it.

 

But if you PM me with your email address, I can send you some non-copyright information / presentations about it.

 

Also, this free download may prove instructive:

http://www.neccontract.com/info_pack/

 

Cheers,

 

G

Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 23 hours 42 min ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5229

Thanks Gary

It is very uncommon here to have a PM of record of the job that is not in charge of the means and methods and this includes being responsible of the schedule, the one who makes it, not an observer who must negotiate the schedule on every update.

Here many would see the arrangement as if a general contractor not responsible for the schedule and the subs telling him what is the schedule. Our traditional contract types, including the Project Manager type of contract are very different.

Too radical for me, I don't believe such contract type will ever be adopted here as is, even when I like some of the ideas I heard before.

Anyway I will always encourage new views and believe the NEC can contribute a lot to the way construction contracting is done in a future. Unfortunately is is difficult to get a hold on a copy of their forms. Here it is easy get hard copies of the AGC and AIA standard form of agreements, even PDF copies stamped as SAMPLE/DRAFT are available on the internet but I not being able to find such protected copy of the NEC to see what it is.

Rafael

Gary Whitehead
User offline. Last seen 4 years 46 weeks ago. Offline

Rafael,

 

Actually, it is just that in NEC3 terminology, the contractor is refered to as "contractor", and the client is referred to as "Project Manager"

 

The contractor still prepares their own schedule. The client/PM approves it at each update.

Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 23 hours 42 min ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5229

Gary,

You said - "The PM is the client" - Good to know.

Client:

Definition: customer
Synonyms: applicant, believer, buyer, chump, consumer, dependent, disciple, follower, front, habitué, head, mark, patient, patron, protégé, protégée, purchaser, shopper, walk-in, ward
Antonyms: manager, owner

I understand it means the PM is the owner. That under NEC3 the contractor never assumes PM responsibilities, the PM [the owner] prepares the schedule he must follow.

Rafael

Gary Whitehead
User offline. Last seen 4 years 46 weeks ago. Offline

Rafael,

 

It works a bit different under the NEC contract form.

 

The PM is the client. Each regular programme update is approved by the PM and becomes the new "Approved Programme".

The PM is only allowed to refuse approval of an updated programme for one of 4 clearly-defined reasons.

The latest "Approved Programme" is used for calculating EOTs, but in iteslf does not change the contractual completion date(s) in the works information of the contract.

Terminal float belongs to the contractor.

 

Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 23 hours 42 min ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5229

As a matter of caution please be reminded that;

Approved Contractual Baselines might represent an implicit change to the contract conditions but not an Update Schedule that is ahead or late and might show changes in plans by the contractor.

The two are very different things.

Usually [unless the Owner is the PM] the Contractor is on control of the means and methods and he can make any changes in plans without it changing the agreement. The Contractor has the right to the means and methods, the Owner has a right to be informed.

At home the hands down approach is to avoid requiring revised Baselines and let the original plus the current change orders determine where we are. We compare updates against revised milestones only, for us [or the few ever heard about re-baseline schedules] it is easier and avoid changes or conflicts generated by revised baselines. Yes our CPM culture is poor but with regard to re-baseline schedules it helps.

Gary Whitehead
User offline. Last seen 4 years 46 weeks ago. Offline

According to NEC guidance notes, revised programmes submitted by contractor "should record the actual progress achieved on each operation and the reprogramming of future operations"

 

So yes. It should be clear to the PM approving the programme what has changed vs the last approved programme.

Though not required, it is advisable to include a justification of significant changes, to make it less likely that the PM will reject on the basis that it is not practicable / realistic.

 

Cheers,

 

G