NEC has released a new conflict avoidance practice note, providing guidance on the conflict avoidance clauses and the conflict avoidance process to coincide with Conflict Avoidance Week 2025, a new initiative from the Conflict Avoidance Coalition of which the ICE is a member. The clauses set out a procedure to be used in a NEC4 Contract to resolve disagreements at an early stage by using a conflict avoidance panel.
The practice note includes versions for contracts incorporating dispute resolution Option W1 and W2. The clauses can be used in any of the main forms of contract or subcontract.
Shy Jackson, NEC Contract Board member, explains further:
As identified previously (Conflict Avoidance Pledge, Toolkit, Process and NEC – an update) the Conflict Avoidance Pledge was launched by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors together with the Conflict Avoidance Coalition Steering Group. It reflects the objective of limiting the impact of disputes that have a substantial cost and affect working relationships, and it has been signed by the Institution of Civil Engineers and other industry bodies, as well large infrastructure employers, contractors and consultants. Part of that campaign included a Conflict Avoidance Process, a contractual mechanism designed to help parties identify and resolve emerging disputes at an early stage, based on a non-binding report being produced within 28 days.
In 2022 the UK government published a model clause intended for public sector NEC contracts to introduce the Conflict Avoidance Process. That clause has now been updated by NEC and the Z clauses and can be used by parties to implement the Dispute Avoidance Process into contracts, in conjunction with Options W1 and W2. Parties can also use Dispute Avoidance Boards as provided by W3, and NEC4 ECC Practice Note 5 (NEC 2019) provides Z clauses that can be used to introduce a dispute avoidance board into contracts which are subject to the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
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