ABSTRACT
In view of the potential international use of NEC4, the Contractor’s responsibilities in relation to health and safety are not stated in the core clauses but are to be stated in the Scope specific to an individual project. Of paramount importance is the structure of the NEC4 contract conditions as a three-tier shopping list, comprising core clauses, main option clauses, and secondary option clauses, from which the necessary items must be selected. While some organisations have deliberately put in place standard contract preparation procedures to maintain quality, it is clearly inadvisable to follow such procedures when assembling the contract conditions of an NEC Contract. NEC4 envisages that the Contractor may need access to places that are not part of a building site as such and that there may also be reason to restrict access on a building site to specific areas – the combination of these being defined as the Working Areas.
