NEC ECS: Which programme to work to?

We are a Subcontractor and we have an Accepted Programme with our Contractor and we are required to issue an updated programme on a monthly basis.

Under our contract the Contractor has 2 weeks to review and accepted the programme. During this 2 week period we have two programmes in play, 1 accepted and 1 not accepted but is the latest revision.

Which programme should we be working to?

The accepted programme or the latest / not accepted programme?

You should be working the most efficient way possible which will be your latest programme. If you think about it, you issue a programme for acceptance and they have two weeks to respond. If after a week you decide to change your method of working - you will change your method of working rather than sticking to what you issued on the Accepted Programme. The programme issued for acceptance is a snap shot in time as to the programme at that point in time. It is a standard joke that a planners programme is always out of date five minutes after it is issued - but that is the nature of construction and you have to draw a line somewhere.

If a programme is ever rejected, it doesn’t mean that you are not/should not be working to it. There could be any number of reasons it is rejected which wouldn’t change your choice of how to carry out the works.

The importance of the Accepted Programme is that it is the programme change (compensation events) will be assessed against.

I will echo Glenn’s comments - The programme is a live document which you should always be working to… the Accepted programme/ Programme submitted for acceptance is merely a snapshot of the project status at that point in time. Under NEC the programme is also utilised for change impact.