Recording heritage assets around Euston Station, UK

The Costain Skanska Joint Venture used an NEC3 Professional Services Contract (PSC) Option G to engage Mott MacDonald for the critically important job of recording heritage assets around Euston Station ahead of HS2 enabling works, completing on time and within its £0.5 million budget in May 2022. The project was highly commended at the 2022 NEC Transport Contract of the Year Award and demonstrated exemplary NEC process discipline: 150 early warnings raised, 27 compensation events notified with every one accepted, and 17 of those accepted within two weeks - making it one of the most precisely documented NEC PSC studies in the portfolio. 

Heritage recording on the critical path of HS2 enabling works 

The heritage recording consultancy covered a wide range of deliverables that had to be produced and accepted by both HS2 Ltd and the London Borough of Camden before demolition enabling works could proceed. These included heritage agreement method statements, project plans, written schemes of investigation for individual locations, recording reports, archaeological desk-based assessments, decision record reports and risk assessment method statements. All documentation was made publicly available through the Archaeological Data Service. The work was critical to the delivery of several HS2 follow-on packages - it released demolition works on completion and had to be managed sensitively given both media speculation and public concern about HS2's impact on the Euston area. 

John Yabbacome, Costain Skanska work package manager, says collaboration was initiated through an NEC contract workshop at the outset, bringing both parties through the NEC3 PSC to establish shared understanding of roles, responsibilities, risks and opportunities. Weekly 15-minute commercial catch-up sessions were then set up between team members to run through invoicing status, programme, requests for information, early warning notices and compensation events - providing a regular front-of-mind platform for mutual accountability and direct communication. 

150 early warnings and 27 compensation events, all accepted 

A total of 150 NEC early warnings were notified across the project - seven by the client and 143 by the consultant. Yabbacome says the volume of early warnings was seen as a strength rather than a concern: the predominantly consultant-generated notices prevented the development of emerging risks through timely, clear communication and maintained sharp focus on mitigation accountability throughout. Ben Wajdner, Mott MacDonald project manager, says 27 compensation events were notified in total - 12 by the client and 15 by the consultant. Every single one was accepted, with 17 accepted within two weeks and the longest taking five weeks. 

Wajdner says this 100% acceptance rate was a direct product of transparent communications and proactive collaborative working. Despite the programme having only six days of float at the outset, and being impacted multiple times by delays throughout, the completion date was managed collaboratively through regular monthly discussion and prompt implementation of compensation events. At one point a disagreement over the planned completion date delayed programme acceptance and the ability to justify future changes to the completion date. Wajdner says this was resolved through candid discussion, lessons shared openly between both management teams - only possible because of the good faith and positive rapport the NEC collaborative culture had established throughout. 

The number of compensation events were deemed a result of transparent communications and proactive action, but the real success comes from the high ratio of accepted compensation events that met all requirements of the contract. This was a sign of collaborative working by both parties to lead to a successful project outcome.

Ben Wajdner, Project Manager, Mott MacDonald

Benefits of using NEC 

• NEC3 PSC Option G provided the appropriate term contract structure for a consultancy delivering a programme of rolling documentary outputs over two years, with NEC's early warning and compensation event processes maintaining commercial clarity throughout.
• 150 NEC early warning notices - predominantly raised proactively by the consultant - prevented emerging risks from escalating, maintaining programme momentum on a project with only six days of initial float and critical dependencies for HS2 follow-on packages. 
• A 100% compensation event acceptance rate, with 17 of 27 accepted within two weeks, demonstrated the high level of collaborative working and contractual discipline maintained by both parties - directly attributable to the NEC-initiated contract workshop and weekly commercial catch-up routine. 
• The NEC spirit of mutual trust and co-operation, established from the first contract workshop, gave both parties the platform to resolve a mid-project programme disagreement through candid discussion rather than formal contractual dispute - keeping the project on track to its agreed revised programme and budget.