NEC4 Contracts – Acceptances
NEC contracts use the term ‘acceptance’ in contrast with other forms of contract that use the term ‘approval’, with acceptance essentially meaning ‘no objection’.
Certain procedures contain a ‘hold point’, whereby a matter cannot be reasonably progressed until acceptance has been given, including the following;
- Proposal to change the Scope,
- Replacement key person,
- Proposed Subcontractor,
- Particulars of design.
The NEC ‘long form’ contracts all require a response to be given for a communication submitted for acceptance, which is either to accept or not accept. The contracts do not provide for a response of ‘qualified acceptance’.
The reasons for withholding accepting are generally stated within a procedure although an additional, general reason is given in that more information is needed to assess the submission fully. When an acceptance is withheld for a reason not stated in the contract then this is a compensation event.
An additional requirement, introduced with NEC4, is that the reason for not accepting a submission is to be given in sufficient detail to enable the matter to be corrected.
Note that giving an acceptance does not change the contractual responsibility or any liability for design.
NEC4 Contracts – Certificates
A certificate provides a record of what has been assessed, or determined, and is essentially a ‘position statement’.
NEC4 contracts require the following matters to be certified;
- Completion (including Delivery and Works Completion),
- Take over,
- Defects certificate,
- Payment,
- Final amount due,
- Termination.
As is the case with notifications, the ‘long form’ NEC4 contracts require certificates to be communicated separately from other communications, with the NEC User Guides stating that this is ‘to avoid important things being overlooked’.
Unlike other communications, the applicable clause does not provide for who the certificate is issued to, which is stated at clause 13.6 of the ‘long form’ NEC4 contracts.
A certificate which is commonly used with making payment for Equipment, Plant and Materials ‘off site’ is a vesting certificate, although this certificate is not a standard NEC4 requirement.
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