Nottingham Central Library, UK

NEC has been used to fit out a new public library in Nottingham, UK. Client Nottingham City Council procured the £10.5 million Nottingham Central Library using an NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Option A (priced contract with activity schedule).

Contractor Overbury, part of the Morgan Sindall Group, started work inside the newly finished Broad Marsh bus station and car park building in August 2022. The Cat B shell and core fit out included installing raised access floors, new ceilings and partitioning to create the 2,940 m² library over three levels. 

The library features a striking floating staircase with timber cladding and a frameless glass balustrade. Facilities include an immersive storytelling wall, a dedicated children's reading area, a public café, a bookable 100-person meeting space and back-of-house administrative spaces. The contract was completed on time and budget in June 2023 and the library opened to the public in November 2023. 

Pick Everard, part of the Perfect Circle consortium, was engaged as NEC project manager and supervisor under an NEC3 Professional Services Contract. Both it and the contractor were procured through NEC-based Scape frameworks.

Collaborative atmosphere

A one-team approach was adopted by the project team in the line with the NEC obligation to act in a ‘sprit of mutual trust and co-operation’. Procurement through the Scape framework meant the project team were in place from the earliest stages, helping to create an atmosphere of collaboration which remained over the course of the project through effective administration of the ECC Option A contract.

Risks were identified pre-contract and agreed with the contractor, which managed each risk and the associated mitigation. Any events with time or cost impact were raised as NEC early warning notices on Sypro contract management system and reviewed by the core project team.

Several significant events occurred during the project which had impact on time and cost. Through early notification, collaborative discussion, decision and re-programming, project delays were minimised and all target completion dates were achieved.  

According to Pick Everard director Oliver Hatton, ‘The project team adopted a very thorough and collaborative open-book transparent approach to enable the team to make decisions, which contributed to the success of this project.’ In total 60 NEC early warnings and 69 compensation events were raised during the 42 week programme. All early warnings were closed, and all compensation events were agreed before handover in June 2023.

Benefits of using NEC

• NEC requirement to act in a ‘spirit of mutual trust and co-operation’ led to a collaborative, one-team approach from the outset.
• Changes in scope were identified as NEC early warnings and discussed, agreed and managed by the contractor, helping to ensure the fit out was completed on time and to the agreed budget.
• Decisions on compensation events were made quickly, fairly and before handover, leaving no outstanding issues.