NEC Programme Services

Who you will speak to

Ahmed Elsayed, Managing Director. Ahmed handles UK NEC programme inquiries himself, in English or Arabic.

• MSc with a specialism in delay analysis; PhD candidate in construction claims and dispute resolution
• UK, Ireland and US scheduling experience, and more than 100 claims on large projects worldwide
• Programme development for HS2 rail-system packages and UK energy projects

Full profile

Why the accepted programme matters under NEC

Under the NEC the Accepted Programme is the baseline for assessing every compensation event. If there is no Accepted Programme, the Project Manager can assess compensation events on its own view of the programme. Under NEC4, one quarter of the Price for Work Done to Date can be retained until a first programme showing the required information has been submitted.

What we prepare

• First programmes under clause 31, with every item the clause and the Scope require: dates, float, time risk allowances, the order and timing of work, and the information the Project Manager needs
• Revised programmes under clause 32, showing actual progress, the effects of implemented compensation events and changes to the Contractor’s plans
• Programme impacts for compensation event quotations, showing the delay to Completion and Key Dates
• Responses to non-acceptance, addressing each reason the Project Manager has given
• Programme reviews for Employers and Project Managers

Reasons for non-acceptance

Clause 31.3 lists the reasons a Project Manager may give for not accepting a programme: the plans are not practicable, it does not show the required information, it does not represent the plans realistically, or it does not comply with the Scope. We check the programme against each one before it is submitted. NEC4 also lets the Contractor notify the Project Manager when a programme has not been answered, after which it can be treated as accepted.

Your first conversation

Compensation events and time bars

Clause 61.3 bars a compensation event if the Contractor does not notify it within eight weeks of becoming aware of it, unless the Project Manager should have notified it. We keep the programme and the compensation event register aligned so nothing is lost. For delay disputes, see delay analysis in London.