NEC3 and NEC4 for infrastructure

The NEC3 (or New Engineering Contract, 3rd edition) is a suite of contracts intended for use on all aspects of construction and engineering projects globally. Through a number of high-profile projects and framework contracts, the NEC forms have now risen from a predominantly transport and civil profile to international popularity, with status as the contract of choice for major building and infrastructure work.

However, the NEC3 form of contract requires a pro-active approach and more administration hours than 'traditional' forms of building contract, such as the JCT or ICE. In essence, the contract imposes project management procedures and this carries with it implications.

This section defines the NEC3 suite in terms of its key features, and highlights a number of high-profile infrastructure projects on which it was used. It then covers how NEC3 can be used in practice, and specifies key documents. Other important aspects such as payment, change management (including implications for the role of the project manager) and delay damages and defects are also addressed.

This section is maintained by Mark Wheeler of DIALES (part of Driver Group).