NEC and IWFM launch final edition of Facilities Management contract suite

NEC, the construction industry’s leading procurement contract suite, and the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) have today launched the new suite of NEC4 Facilities Management Contracts in its final edition.

The new set of contracts are specifically for the procurement of facilities management services and to help identify best practice in the sector and establish the way forward.

It consists of four contracts, six user guides and two flow charts, as well as introductory training from NEC, and is designed to cover most facilities management procurement and delivery strategies. These include “total FM” / integrated services FM contracts, managing contractor FM contracts, and single and / or multiple supplier FM contracts. Practice notes covering specific geographic and FM themes will continue to be published over the coming months.

As with all NEC4 contracts, they are based on three core principles - ensuring they work to support good relationships between all parties; they can be used in a wide variety of commercial situations or locations, and are written in clear, simple terms.

NEC acknowledges and is grateful for the ongoing support of IWFM and its members, especially in the development and delivery of these contracts and supporting documents which brought together parallel workstreams from both organisations.

It combined NEC research to identify best practice in the workplace and facilities management industry, which included workshops with IWFM members as well as consultations with expert stakeholders, based on a need identified by IWFM’s International (ISIG) and Procurement Special Interest Groups for a new approach to FM industry standard contracts.

The new contracts and their supporting documents are a great step to enable the facilities management sector to offer more integrated and consistent procurement strategies, add value to the supply chain and develop stronger, more collaborative, relationships and ways of working.

Rekha Thawrani, Global Head of NEC, said: “We are delighted that the new contracts have been developed specifically for the FM industry, using tailored research, stakeholder workshops with IWFM members and individual consultations.

“The new suite will provide the FM industry with more consistent procurement strategies, supported by NEC guiding principles of mutual trust and co-operation and therefore strengthen the sector as a whole. The feedback we have had since the prepublication editions of the contracts was launched in January has been very encouraging, with interest from across the sector. We look forward to seeing them used and encourage anyone who is interested in finding out more to get in touch.”

IWFM Chief Executive Linda Hausmanis said: “Workplace and facilities managers have long wanted a dedicated contract that meets our profession’s and the sector’s specific needs.

“The NEC4 FMC suite is rooted in collaboration and ‘bakes in’ a number of principles for best practice in procurement, which is fundamentally important to our profession’s advancement. It is a key tool for embedding best practice that can help our profession to thrive and grow.

“Today’s full launch of the contract suite marks the conclusion of a three-year journey of collaboration between IWFM and the NEC. Our special thanks go to our expert Steering Group, members of which were drawn from IWFM’s Procurement and International SIGs, as they played an instrumental role in its development.”

The full suite includes the Facilities Management Contract (FMC), to be used by a Client to appoint a provider to manage and deliver any type of facilities management services, and the Facilities Management Subcontract (FMS), which can be used by a FM provider to appoint a subcontractor to help deliver its service.

There is also the Facilities Management Short Contract (FMSC), which can be used to appoint a FM provider to deliver any type of straightforward, low-risk services which do not require sophisticated management techniques, and the accompanying Facilities Management Short Subcontract (FMSS), which covers the same services for subcontractors.

The final editions of the contracts will be available from the NEC website and information can be found here - NEC4: Facilities Management Contract