NEC ECSC: Who runs risk of items missed off the Price List?

If the Price List has been agreed at point of signing contract, and then it turns out that an item has been missed off that list, who’s risk is this? If this was on the tender drawings, there is no change to the Works Information, so where can this be captured as a compensation event, particularly if the client does not want to pay for it?

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The Contractor’s obligation is to Provide the Works in accordance with the Works Information, not in accordance with the Price List therefore how the Contractor prices the Price List would usually be a Contractor’s risk. If you review the compensation events under clause 60.1 there isn’t one for work being required that isn’t included in the Price List and as such there would be no compensation event for the Employer insisting that the Contractor does the work that the Works Information requires him to do. This work is deemed included in the Price List even if there isn’t a specific price for it.

Sorry to revive such an old topic but I disagreed with Neil’s assessment and would appreciate some thoughts on the following:

Neil’s reiteration that The Contractor’s obligation is to provide the Works in accordance with the Works Information is a bit of a red herring, the obligation to provide the Works is standalone and is unrelated to how the contractor gets paid. The exact same clause 20.1 exists in an NEC3 ECC Option B contract, but Option B contains clauses 60.6 & 60.7 which place the liability on the Employer for items omitted from the Bill of Quantities, regardless of the obligation on the Contractor to provide the works.

Sorry to keep picking on Neil but his interpretation of Clause 60.1(13) “A difference between the final total quantity of work done and the quantity stated for an item in the Price List” places an emphasis on “an item in the Price List” that isn’t necessarily there. A more logical and fairer reading would be to place the emphasis on the “difference between the final total quantity of work done” and the “quantity……in the Price List” If the item of work isn’t included in the Price List, then the quantity in the Price List is zero, which is different to the final quantity of work done, and the Contractor would be entitled to a compensation event.

Thanks.