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Read each amendment against the clause it changes

Reading each amendment beside the published clause it changes shows you which ones cost money. The schedule alone only shows which clauses changed.

Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.

Why it matters

Main contractors amend the published JCT and NEC forms with schedules that refer to clause numbers: delete this, substitute that, add a sub-clause. On their own they make little sense, so people skim them. Most are harmless. The few that are not can lengthen a payment period, turn a notice into a time bar or widen what can be deducted. In the schedule they look no different from a change of address.

How to do it

  1. Get a copy of the published form the subcontract is based on, and check that its edition matches the one the subcontract names.
  2. Go through the schedule in order, putting each amendment beside the clause it changes.
  3. Write one line for each: what it does to your money, your time or your risk, or no change.
  4. Mark each line high, medium or low by what it could cost on this job.
  5. Carry the high ones into your list of amendments to ask for, and the medium ones into your price.

Example

Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.

The facts

An electrical subcontractor is sent an £850,000 subcontract on the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Subcontract, with 34 additional conditions under Option Z.

What happens

  1. The subcontractor sets each additional condition beside the core clause it changes, and writes its effect in one line.
  2. Twenty-six are harmless. Eight move money or risk onto it. One removes its right to a compensation event, and so to more time and money, when the main contractor sends information late.
  3. It rates three as high and sends them back with proposed wording. It prices the other five at £9,800.

The outcome

The main contractor restores the compensation event for late information. It keeps the other two high-rated conditions, and the subcontractor prices them. All 34 conditions have been read before anyone signs.

To have this set up for you, see our Pre-Signing Contract Review service.