Delivering continuity in infrastructure programmes: the role of NEC

Six years of delivering infrastructure programmes in Peru have highlighted a key challenge and one that resonates far beyond: maintaining continuity in the face of constant change. Structured contractual frameworks such as NEC haven proven to play a key role in addressing this.

Change throughout the lifecycle of a programme is inevitable; whether driven by staff turnover, technological advancements, evolving project requirements or shifting political and economic environments. The challenge for clients is therefore not how to eliminate change, but how to manage it in a structured and consistent way.

Embedding structure and flexibility

The NEC4 suite does exactly that by going beyond a set of contracts and operating as an embedded delivery model that incorporates ‘good governance’ into everyday project management. Examples of this include identifying issues early, agreeing actions collaboratively, and documenting decisions consistently. In doing so, it reduces reliance on individual judgement and informal processes which often prove to be common sources of inconsistency during delivery.

A key strength of the NEC suite is the balance it strikes between standardisation and flexibility. Its flexibility enables clients to adopt a single, consistent framework across construction, professional services, supply, subcontracting and facilities management, while still allowing contract types, cost mechanisms and options to be tailored to specific project requirements and legal contexts.

This common structure and language across the supply chain enables alignment between teams and suppliers, reduces onboarding time, and limits misinterpretation, supporting continuity in decision-making; particularly in large programmes where teams frequently change. 

For organisations such as government departments or large clients managing complex portfolios of projects, this consistency is particularly helpful as it provides a stable foundation for delivery, acting as a form of organisational infrastructure, fostering capability as much as compliance.

The critical role of people 

NEC can help infrastructure programmes deliver greater stability under pressure, but the value comes not from merely selecting NEC but embedding it. It’s critical for teams to have a clear understanding of the contracts and, importantly, apply them in a consistent way. Without this shared understanding, even standardised contracts can be managed differently across projects, undermining the very continuity they are intended to provide. The effective adoption of these new tools therefore requires both organisations and teams to understand that training cannot be a one-time event; it must be continuous and cover both the technical and behavioural aspects that underpin the models. 

Concluding thoughts 

Adopting the NEC 4 Suite of Contracts provides a clear and practical route to greater consistency in infrastructure delivery. For both clients and contractors, it enables more streamlined processes, clearer communication, and better alignment across the supply chain, while retaining the flexibility to adapt to different project types and changing requirements. 

Gleeds’ experience in Peru has demonstrated how valuable this consistency can be in practice. Over the past six years, we have supported the delivery of three major infrastructure programmes: Peru Reconstruction alongside Mace Consult and Arup, Bicentennial Schools with Mace Consult, and Complex Hospitals alongside partners AECOM and Currie & Brown. Across these programmes, we have weathered six presidents, fluctuating budgets and project scopes, not to mention multiple changes to leadership and staff in our client teams. During this time, NEC has served as a stable framework for governance, decision-making and contract administration, helping the programmes maintain momentum despite continual change. 

It's worth highlighting that NEC was still relatively new in Peru, having first been adopted as part of the 2019 Pan American Games programme. Embedding a consistent understanding therefore required a sustained programme of knowledge transfer, including structured training, online learning and ongoing advisory support

While every environment will give rise to unique challenges, the principle underpinning this experience is universal; when the contractual structure and human capability align, infrastructure programmes are better equipped to maintain continuity and deliver outcomes with greater confidence.

Author: Ken Mazey

Ken Mazey is a Director at Gleeds, based in the Peru team, where he specialises in contract management and the delivery of complex, large-scale infrastructure programmes. He is currently part of the UK Delivery Team (UKDT), a joint venture made up of Mace Consult, Arup and Gleeds; which provides technical assistance to the Peruvian National Infrastructure Authority under a Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement.