I am currently working on a project at RIBA Stage 3 which involves the significant refurbishment of a listed building as well as the construction of a new adjoining modern facility. Due to the nature of the conservation works it will be difficult to quantify the required works and materials into a Bill of Quantities which the contractor could price. There is the possibility that these quantities could changed so much so that the contractor could not be expected to stand over their initial rate for particular items on the Bill of Quantities.
From the above it was agreed that JCT would be the preferred form of contract to adopt however, to make life more complicated, the client wants to ensure that there is not a rush of CE’s left to the end of the project and hence the inclusion of time bars are required. This would then direct we to the direct use of NEC ECC Option B or alternative amending JCT to include time bars or amending the NEC to allow for provisional sum.
I hope that others have faced a similar dilemma in the industry and seek your thoughts on this.