What does NEC4 clause 60.1(20) mean?

It pays for a quotation that led nowhere. Under clause 65 of the NEC4 main contract, the Project Manager can ask for a quotation for a change it is only considering, called a proposed instruction. The Contractor submits it within 3 weeks. The Project Manager replies within 3 weeks, in one of three ways. It gives the instruction, says it will not be given, or says the quotation is not accepted. Clause 60.1(20) makes the third reply a compensation event. On an NEC subcontract, your main contractor asks and replies, and your subcontract may set different periods. To rely on the clause, show the request to quote, your quotation, and the notice that it is not accepted. The event comes from the other side's own notice, so your main contractor should notify it with that notice. If it does not, you notify under clause 61.3, and the 8-week bar does not apply. The change to the Prices, your contract price, is assessed under clause 63.1. It is the effect on actual Defined Cost up to the notice and forecast Defined Cost after it, plus the Fee. What that covers depends on the main option. Under Options A and B, clause 11.2(23) leaves the cost of preparing quotations for compensation events out of Defined Cost. So the cost of pricing the proposed instruction is out. What is left is other cost the exercise caused, such as surveys asked for alongside it. Under Options C, D, E and F, clause 11.2(24) has no such exclusion, so the people cost of preparing the quotation is in. Two things go wrong most. You treat a notice that the change will not be instructed as this event. Or you claim the whole value of the abandoned change, not the cost of responding to it. Any delay to the Completion Date is assessed separately under clause 63, and that is a job for your planner.