NEC and HKA to explore strategic partnership in Australia

Companies to partner on new collaborative contracting option in the Australian infrastructure market.

NEC is delighted to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with HKA, one of the world’s leading providers of consulting, expert and advisory services for the construction and engineering industry. The purpose of this new working relationship is to raise awareness of the NEC suite of contracts and to encourage adoption of the contracts in the infrastructure and construction sectors across Australia.

HKA will act as an NEC representative in Australia, encouraging clients towards collaborative procurement, advising clients on the transition to NEC and providing direct guidance, recommendations and assistance to projects using NEC Contracts.

There has been increasing interest from Australia for a collaborative contracting model, as was seen in the NSW Government Action Plan released last year. It emphasised the New South Wales Government’s commitment to procure and manage projects in a more collaborative way. In April, Sydney Water became the first major infrastructure company in Australia to adopt NEC4 to deliver new works, and many further clients look set to follow suit.

Rekha Thawrani, Global Head, NEC Contracts, said “This is a very exciting time for us to work with a new partner to build on enthusiasm from the industry to move towards collaborative procurement. Working together, NEC and HKA are now able to offer support for the adoption of NEC in the region.”

Dafydd Wyn Owen, Partner at HKA, echoed these sentiments “HKA is delighted to be able to work with NEC to encourage the use of the NEC suite of contracts to benefit the industry. There are opportunities emerging to drive innovation and increase value through new sourcing and a new contract approach.

“We will work to ensure and build on Sydney Water’s success, continuing to build support across industry and establishing NEC’s presence in Australia.”

For more information, please contact Cheryl Waterman, NEC International Manager on Cheryl.waterman@neccontract.com or +44 (0)207 665 2445.

For more information on HKA please visit www.hka.com.