NEC NEEDS CASE LAW

Or does it? A friend of a friend recently said(ish) that they could not advise or approve NEC for client use as there had been no major litigation on it and therefore they found it legally ambiguous.

'What' I hear you say. 'What complete tosh' I say! So let me get this right, there needs to be case law tearing standard form contracts apart limb by limb presumably overs years and years in order for somebody (no doubt quite bright) to be able to say, 'yes, this is proven contract, the Courts tried their best but could not find a way through'.

In the meantime our industries can hopefully get on and make some significant improvements to the way in which we do business, free of Court intervention if at all possible. If we can stop legal and other advisers pursuing 'interesting points of law', at the expense of somebody else, that seem to me to do little other than take from the balance sheet of other organisations then we will be well on our way to maturing as an industry.

Robert Gerrard

NEC3 Supply Contracts launched

Two additions to the NEC3 family of contracts launched on Thursday 11 February. The NEC3 Supply Contract and NEC3 Supply Short Contract are the first standardised contracts available for supply and purchasing of goods. Like all NEC contracts they are designed to save time and money for all parties by resolving issues before they turn into problems.

These two new documents have already seen significant interest with the entire first print run selling out pre-publication. The contract has been adopted in pre-launch trials and given a resounding endorsement by Meridian Energy – the largest electricity supplier in New Zealand, as well as several big names in the UK.

Want to know more? Take a look at the NEC website at: www.neccontract.com/supply

Student NEC research

There are many procurement topics for students to base dissertations on these days and we get plenty of requests to help in the research by forwarding online surveys to the NEC Users' Group, partake in interviews and so on.

What would be really helpful is to see some of the results of the research and, with appropriate copyright holders' permission, it is intended to post NEC relevant dissertations on the website for the benefit of others on the site:

http://www.neccontract.com/products/Academia.asp

Here's a recent survey request on guaranteed maximum price/target cost contracts for you to complete. I can add others to this Blog as and when they are received.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5LTZDDB
Rob

NEC in Academia

My first Blog, what are the rules of the game, I've no idea?! No doubt someone will tell me I have ignored protocol but a good outcome has to be engagement and debate followed by improvement. So what's an NEC subject close to my heart? It has to be the whole NEC learning aspect and academia in particular. So here goes......

Some years back, when there were just a few standard forms of contract available to users, the choice was very limited and academia could focus on eg JCT for building courses and ICE for civils. Each had a body of law that followed it around influencing learning, teaching and future drafting. Then along came NEC and posed a much needed question to those teaching our future professionals - how much time do I give to NEC, the new kid on the block?

For this to be answered people looked around at reports, such as those produced by the RICS - just how much is NEC used in the construction industry? My opinion is far more than suggested in out of date RICS reports, which I think is basically flawed in its research in any case and more about that in another Blog, another time! Anyway, lecturers know from experience with their undergraduates in their year out and those on part-time courses, just how much interest and use there is of NEC and are needing to emphasise accordingly.

We need to make sure there are no barriers preventing NEC becoming a key part of any appropriate course curricula and NEC in Academia is a new product to help lecturers with a range of tools from NEC to assist. See the link below for more details, including links to a possible grant source.

www.neccontract.com/products/Academia.asp

There is plenty to do - make sure lecturers are up to speed with all things NEC; make sure professional bodies have the right project management competencies promoted by NEC within their learning processes (for pre and post chartership); encourage and assist students in their learning and research; make sure that we synchronise industry best practice with academia, and so on.

So what do you think? Do you agree? Have I missed anything? What other matters are worthy of a damn good Blog?!

Robert Gerrard