What B2–B5 contractors get wrong about NEC3 programmes

The Accepted Programme isn't a Gantt chart you submit once.

Under NEC3 ECC3 Clause 31, the programme submitted for acceptance must show — among other things — the order and timing of operations, dates for access and Possession, dates for provision of information by Others, and the float, time risk allowances and Health and Safety requirements.

We see B2–B5 contractors submit a clean Microsoft Project file with bars and dates. No float disclosed. No time risk allowance shown. No access requirements flagged. No information dates programmed.

The Project Manager has two options. Accept it and live with what's in it. Or reject under 31.3 with reasons.

Once a contractor's programme is rejected, they cannot claim under 60.1(2) that the Project Manager didn't give access in time, because they didn't submit access dates. They cannot claim under 60.1(3) for late information, because they didn't programme the information dates. They cannot claim float erosion, because they never disclosed float.

The programme is the contractor's primary claim instrument. Submitted properly, it protects time and cost. Submitted as a Gantt chart, it does neither.

What an acceptable programme shows

Clause 31.2 is a checklist, and the Project Manager will use it as one. A programme submitted for acceptance should show, among other things: the starting date, access dates, Key Dates and Completion Date; planned Completion; the order and timing of the work of the contractor and of Others; the dates when the contractor needs access, acceptances, Plant and Materials from the Employer and information from Others; float and time risk allowances; health and safety requirements; and, for each operation, a statement of how the contractor plans to do the work and the principal Equipment and resources it will use.

Under 31.3 the Project Manager accepts the programme or gives reasons for not accepting it within two weeks. The reasons it can give are limited: the plans are not practicable, the programme does not show the required information, it does not represent the contractor’s plans realistically, or it does not comply with the Works Information.

Why it matters for money, not just time

Delay to Completion from a compensation event is assessed under 63.3 against planned Completion on the Accepted Programme. Without an Accepted Programme there is nothing to measure from, and the Project Manager makes its own assessment instead. There is also an immediate cash effect: under 50.3, until the contractor has submitted a first programme showing the information the contract requires, one quarter of the Price for Work Done to Date is retained in each assessment.

Keeping it accepted

The first acceptance is not the end. Clause 32 requires revised programmes at the intervals stated in the Contract Data, showing actual progress, the effects of implemented compensation events and how the contractor plans to deal with delays and notified early warnings. A programme that was accepted in month one and never revised quickly stops reflecting the job, and its protection fades with it.

• Build the programme from the 31.2 list, not from the scheduling software’s defaults.
• Show float and time risk allowances separately, and label them.
• Programme every date you need from the Employer and from Others.
• Submit revisions on time, and chase acceptance in writing when two weeks pass without a reply.
• Keep each accepted revision; it is the baseline for the next compensation event.

More on NEC3 programmes, early warnings and acceptance in the NEC3 Contract Assistant.