ABSTRACT
The procurement analysis of the relative importance of time, cost and quality has historically led inexorably to a decision as to whether a traditional, a design and build, or a management procurement route is appropriate. The NEC approach encompassed the concept that both the legal and the management requirements of a diverse range of ‘modern’ projects could be met in a single document and that the avoidance of ‘legalistic’ language would assist in that aim. The NEC4 Subcontract/Short Subcontract will be significant for architects in the context of specialist design and installation. Architects may find the version of NEC4 appropriate when the professional services requirements are relatively straightforward and where building clients are lay people/consumers rather than professional/repeat clients. The adjudicator has had a role under the NEC contract prior to the introduction of statutory adjudication in England and Wales.
