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New Engineering Contract
The New Engineering Contract (NEC), or NEC Engineering and Construction Contract, is a formalised system created by the UK Institution of Civil Engineers that guides the drafting of documents on civil engineering, construction and maintenance projects for the purpose of obtaining tenders, awarding and administering contracts. NEC has become the default suite of contracts for public-sector works, services and supplies in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. NEC contracts have also been successfully used in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, UAE, and many more. They are also increasingly being used in the private sector.
There have been four editions, the first in 1993, the second in 1995, the third in 2005 and the most recent in 2017. The NEC3 was launched in 2005 and it was amended in April 2013. The NEC Users' Group, with over 400 members worldwide, brings together organisations and individual users of the NEC contract suite to exchange knowledge and best practice.
Originally contracts in the civil engineering and construction industries were bespoke and drafted by Chancery pleaders using their knowledge of leases rather than building processes. In 1879, Royal Institute of British Architects for construction projects created RIBA forms which lead to the Joint Contracts Tribunal, JCT forms. For civil engineering the need for a formalized approach to contracts led the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) to produce a formalised set of conditions of contract. In 1986, the ICE commissioned the development of a new form of contract as it was felt that there was a need for a form that had clearer language, clearer allocation of responsibilities and reduced opportunities for contractual “gamesmanship”. In 1991, this resulted in a consultative form of the New Engineering Contract form of contract. The first edition was published in 1993. Wider use of the NEC was recommended by the Latham Report in 1994.[citation needed]
NEC's history started in 1986 when Martin Barnes was commissioned to start drafting a contract to stimulate good project management. The first edition of NEC was launched in 1993. NEC2 arrived two years later, in 1995. NEC2 was used to build the High Speed 1 railway, between London and the Channel Tunnel.[citation needed]
NEC is a division of Thomas Telford Ltd, the commercial arm of the ICE.
The NEC3 suite was launched in 2005 and it was fully revised in 2013 - NEC's 20th anniversary. This suite was used in projects such as Crossrail, London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, Halley VI in Antarctica, and the Tin Shui Wai Hospital in Hong Kong.[citation needed] NEC3 was endorsed by the Construction Clients' Board (formerly Public Sector Construction Clients' Forum), Crown Commercial Services, the Facilities Management Board of the UK Cabinet Office, the South African Construction Industry Development Board, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Association for Project Management (APM) and the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM).
The Hong Kong government decided to use NEC3 contracts generally for all government projects tendered in 2015/16. After a series of successful NEC3 projects in the region, the Hong Kong government announced in November 2016 that the NEC contract suite would be used for all future public works projects as far as practicable. Since 2017, Hong Kong has progressively moved to adopt NEC4.
NEC4 was announced in March 2017 and has been available since June 2017. This new edition reflects procurement and project management developments and emerging best practice, with improvements in flexibility, clarity and the ease of administration. It also introduced two new contracts: the NEC4 Design, Build and Operate Contract (DBO) and the NEC4 Alliance Contract (ALC). An NEC4 contract suite covering facilities management was released in 2021.
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New Engineering Contract
The New Engineering Contract (NEC), or NEC Engineering and Construction Contract, is a formalised system created by the UK Institution of Civil Engineers that guides the drafting of documents on civil engineering, construction and maintenance projects for the purpose of obtaining tenders, awarding and administering contracts. NEC has become the default suite of contracts for public-sector works, services and supplies in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. NEC contracts have also been successfully used in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, UAE, and many more. They are also increasingly being used in the private sector.
There have been four editions, the first in 1993, the second in 1995, the third in 2005 and the most recent in 2017. The NEC3 was launched in 2005 and it was amended in April 2013. The NEC Users' Group, with over 400 members worldwide, brings together organisations and individual users of the NEC contract suite to exchange knowledge and best practice.
Originally contracts in the civil engineering and construction industries were bespoke and drafted by Chancery pleaders using their knowledge of leases rather than building processes. In 1879, Royal Institute of British Architects for construction projects created RIBA forms which lead to the Joint Contracts Tribunal, JCT forms. For civil engineering the need for a formalized approach to contracts led the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) to produce a formalised set of conditions of contract. In 1986, the ICE commissioned the development of a new form of contract as it was felt that there was a need for a form that had clearer language, clearer allocation of responsibilities and reduced opportunities for contractual “gamesmanship”. In 1991, this resulted in a consultative form of the New Engineering Contract form of contract. The first edition was published in 1993. Wider use of the NEC was recommended by the Latham Report in 1994.[citation needed]
NEC's history started in 1986 when Martin Barnes was commissioned to start drafting a contract to stimulate good project management. The first edition of NEC was launched in 1993. NEC2 arrived two years later, in 1995. NEC2 was used to build the High Speed 1 railway, between London and the Channel Tunnel.[citation needed]
NEC is a division of Thomas Telford Ltd, the commercial arm of the ICE.
The NEC3 suite was launched in 2005 and it was fully revised in 2013 - NEC's 20th anniversary. This suite was used in projects such as Crossrail, London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, Halley VI in Antarctica, and the Tin Shui Wai Hospital in Hong Kong.[citation needed] NEC3 was endorsed by the Construction Clients' Board (formerly Public Sector Construction Clients' Forum), Crown Commercial Services, the Facilities Management Board of the UK Cabinet Office, the South African Construction Industry Development Board, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Association for Project Management (APM) and the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM).
The Hong Kong government decided to use NEC3 contracts generally for all government projects tendered in 2015/16. After a series of successful NEC3 projects in the region, the Hong Kong government announced in November 2016 that the NEC contract suite would be used for all future public works projects as far as practicable. Since 2017, Hong Kong has progressively moved to adopt NEC4.
NEC4 was announced in March 2017 and has been available since June 2017. This new edition reflects procurement and project management developments and emerging best practice, with improvements in flexibility, clarity and the ease of administration. It also introduced two new contracts: the NEC4 Design, Build and Operate Contract (DBO) and the NEC4 Alliance Contract (ALC). An NEC4 contract suite covering facilities management was released in 2021.