Three New NEC4 Practice Notes Released

NEC is pleased to present three new guidance notes on best practice when using NEC4 contracts. Drafted by experts and signed off by members of the NEC contract board, these practice notes are designed to help users navigate specific scenarios and use cases for the contracts, helping with contract preparation and management.

The three new practice notes are as follows. You can find all of the available NEC practice notes here.

Comparison of the NEC4 Term Service Short Contract (TSSC) with the Term Service Contract (TSC)

This guidance provides users with a comprehensive understanding of the differences between the TSSC and TSC, including advice on when the TSSC is likely to be more appropriate for a project. The TSSC is a simplified and shortened version of the TSC, and it includes procedures which are simpler to manage and is appropriate for priced contracts of low risk and low complexity.

Including climate change requirements in the NEC4 Facilities Management Contract (FMC)

The impact of, and adaptation to, climate change is a challenge to the facilities management (FM) sector as much as to any other. When establishing contracts to provide FM services, clients and service providers alike need to consider how they might measure the impact of that provision on climate change.

The January 2023 version of the FMC has included the latest secondary Option, X29 climate change, to allow clients to set objectives for the parties in the contract and manage the processes needed to measure how well the objectives are being achieved. This practice note is written to explain how this might be included in an FMC, and what issues the parties, and especially the client, should consider.

Plans and Programmes in the FMC

The requirement that the Service Provider develops and maintains plans and programmes for its work is at the centre of the FMC, as it is for all the major NEC contracts. This practice note is written to summarise the various plans and programmes which are included in the FMC and how they are used, and to highlight how important these are in this contract.