NEC®4 CONTRACT CLOCK
NEC4 time periods calculator
Pick what happened and the date it happened. The calculator gives you every date that runs from it under the NEC4 ECC, with the clause, and what happens if the other side misses theirs.
A guide to the standard periods in the NEC4 ECC core clauses and Option Y(UK)2. Your Contract Data and Z clauses can change any of them. This is not legal advice. This version covers the ECC. The subcontract (ECS) and NEC3 periods differ. NEC and NEC4 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Thomas Telford Ltd, and this calculator is independent of it.
How the periods are counted
The NEC4 ECC counts time in calendar weeks and days. A week is seven days, so a reply due within two weeks of a Monday is due on the Monday two weeks later. Weekends and bank holidays count, and the contract doesn't move a date that falls on one.
Where the contract doesn't set a period, the period for reply in the Contract Data applies (clause 13.3). The Project Manager and the Contractor can agree to extend it before the reply is due (clause 13.5). Z clauses and the Contract Data can change any period, so check your own contract before you rely on a date.
The main NEC4 ECC time periods
Clause 31.3
The Project Manager accepts a programme or gives reasons for not accepting it within two weeks of its submission. If it doesn't, the Contractor can notify the failure, and the programme is treated as accepted if the failure continues for a further one week.
Clause 61.3
The Contractor notifies a compensation event within eight weeks of becoming aware that the event has happened.
Clause 61.4
The Project Manager replies to the Contractor's notification within one week, or a longer period the Contractor agrees. After a failure notice and two more weeks with no reply, the event is treated as a compensation event and an instruction to submit quotations.
Clause 62.3
The Contractor submits quotations within three weeks of being instructed to.
Clause 62.3
The Project Manager replies to a quotation within two weeks of its submission. If it doesn't, the Contractor can notify the failure. After two more weeks with no reply, the quotation is treated as accepted, unless it is for a proposed instruction or a proposed changed decision (clause 62.6).
Clause 62.4
The Contractor submits a revised quotation within three weeks of being instructed to.
Clause 64.3
Where the Project Manager makes its own assessment, it notifies it within the period allowed for the Contractor's quotation. That period starts when the need for the assessment becomes apparent.
Clause 51.1
The Project Manager certifies a payment within one week of each assessment date. Under Option Y(UK)2, the due date is seven days after the assessment date and the final date for payment is 14 days after the due date, unless the Contract Data says otherwise. A pay less notice goes no later than seven days before the final date for payment.
Clause 30.2
The Project Manager certifies Completion within one week of Completion.
Clause 53.1
The Project Manager assesses the final amount due and certifies any final payment no later than four weeks after the Defects Certificate is issued.
Questions
Does the eight-week time bar apply to every compensation event?
No. If the Contractor doesn't notify within eight weeks of becoming aware that the event has happened, the Prices, the Completion Date and the Key Dates don't change (clause 61.3). The bar doesn't apply where the event arises from the Project Manager or the Supervisor giving an instruction or notification, issuing a certificate or changing an earlier decision.
What happens if the Project Manager doesn't reply to our programme?
The Contractor can notify the Project Manager of the failure. If the failure continues for a further one week after that notice, the programme is treated as accepted (clause 31.3).
Do weekends and bank holidays count?
Yes. The NEC4 ECC counts calendar days and weeks, and its core clauses don't move a date that falls on a weekend or a bank holiday. Some periods under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 leave out Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays (section 116), so check payment dates near them with your adviser.
Can the Contract Data change these periods?
Yes. The Contract Data sets the period for reply and, under Option Y(UK)2, can set a different final date for payment. Z clauses can change any period. Enter your own figures in the calculator's Contract Data panel.
Need a date checked against your contract?
Tell us the form of contract, what happened and when. The first step is a 30-minute call with Roman Bazelchuk, Director.
Or email info@necplanningsolutions.co.uk