ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the Second Edition of the New Engineering Contract (NEC), renamed the Engineering and Construction Contract, published in 1995 and incorporating addendum Y(UK)2 dated April 1998, hereinafter referred to as NEC/2. When the First Edition of the New Engineering Contract (hereinafter referred to as NEC/1) was published in 1993, it marked a radical departure from the approach adopted by more traditional forms of contract such as those published by the JCT. NEC/2 provides this exibility by incorporating such things as "main option clauses" and "secondary option clauses" around the "core clauses" thereby allowing the procurer to adopt its chosen method of procurement in each case without having to use a wholly different standard form of contract. The structure of the NEC/2 documentation and relatively precise definition of the duties of the parties further aids clarity as does the absence of cross-referencing between clauses.
