CIC Releases Guidance on Working with New Engineering Contracts

The Construction Industry Council (CIC), through their Liability Panel have written a new Risk Management Briefing, “Consulting in an NEC environment”. NEC contracts cater for the client/contactor and client/consultant relationship.

The Risk Management Briefings are a series of free guidance documents produced by the CIC Liability Panel. The briefings examine current areas of concern in relation to liability and are released to keep industry informed of current issues that can have impact on them.

This Briefing refers specifically to NEC4, Professional Services Contract (PSC) and its importance to the intended £650 billion spend on public and private infrastructure projects announced by the UK Government in 2021. The Briefing is of particular importance to anyone with an interest in participating in these projects as NEC4 is likely to be involved.

The Liability Panel is one of the longest running CIC committees who were set up to consider liability, legal and insurance issues.  The Panel drafts and publishes standard form contract documentation for consultants as well as publishing the freely available Risk Management Briefings.

Nasir Khan, Chair of the Liability Panel has said “The UK government announced in 2021 that it has chosen the NEC4 contracts as one of the three options to deliver its £650 billion spend over the next 10 years. The CIC Liability Panel’s risk management briefing on Consulting in an NEC Environment provides consultants some key points to watch out for. The NEC contracts are known for their collaborative and flexible approach to project management. However, the consultants need to be mindful of the Scope, Z Clauses, Programme, and their obligations to mitigate potential liability risks.”. 

A full suite of CIC Risk Management Briefings can be downloaded for free from the CIC website