Delay to Power On NEC4

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Hi All,

I think this is a common problem with regards to statutory authorities and any advice would be appreciated.

The client was supposed to provide power to site months ago, this was a provisional sum that was omitted from the contract however they still cannot confirm when power will be completed onsite. We have a key date on the programme that was missed and it is well documented in meeting minutes that the delay is occurring.

We are now at a stage of the build where we cannot heat the building without power, and this is creating mould on the walls, defects on doors and quality issues with finishes due to poor lighting. If we carry on onsite and install temporary boilers to heat and power the building there would be significant cost which the PM is reluctant to accept. Do we need to raise a seperate CNCE for the temporary heat/power to the building, or can it be captured in the same CE as the delay to power, also without a confirmed date for power we are unable to assess the overall comp event. At what point should the CNCE have been issued, is it when the client missed the power on date or when the contractor was starting to have implications from the lack of power, or should the PM have notified the contractor that the power would be delayed and instructed us to provide a temporary solution?

Also is providing a temporary solution without a PMI putting the Contractor at risk, should we contractually stop works until we have a solution or are we required to mitigate the delay and argue the costs with the client retrospectively?

Thanks,

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@EmmaQS This probably falls under cl. 60.1(3) if it is shown in the Accepted Programme as something the Client has to provide. You need to be wary about the 8-weeks notification requirement, failing which you might have to rely on the evidence you mentioned (meeting minutes etc.).

Finally, stopping the works does not seem as an option in my view and will also put you in a very precarious position (contractually); start with the CE mechanism and mitigate where possible - raise early warnings (instructing early warning meetings) and keep good records/photographic evidence on a daily basis.

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Thanks Peter,

With the 8 weeks notification, I believe its from when it became apparent so would that be when they missed the install date or when it became apparent the temporary works where needed? For example if the power date was on the programme for January but this hasn’t resulted in an issue either by time & cost until now would the 8 weeks start from now or January? I should also add we still dont have a date for the install, so in theory they could have missed the date in Jan but then installed in Feb without an issue

Also where would the contractor stand on recovering costs, would this need to be assessed as part of the CE even if a PMI for temporary works wasn’t issued?