NEC ECC: Can the Supervisor raise a Defect Notice for an element of works which is already repaired.

The PM instructed repair work to be carried out on a part of the works. The Contractor complied with the instruction and raised a CE against 60.1 (1) as they did not accept liability and deemed it a change to the Works Information.

The PM has since rejected the CE and claimed the repairs were required due to fault of the Contractor.

The Supervisor did not explicitly instruct the Contractor to search for a Defect (CL40.1) nor did he raise a defect notice for any of the repairs.

Can the Supervisor raise a defect notice retrospectively for repairs which have already been carried out ?

There is nothing for the Supervisor to notify as there is no defect, and it serves no purpose to notify a retrospective one at this point.

It now comes down to the Contractor proving why the instructed repair work was not part of the original Works Information or not down to any faulty of there own. They need to strengthen their argument as to why it IS a compensation event as clearly the PM was not convinced and rejected the notification of the CE. If they are still adamant it is not a CE and the Contractor is adamant it is, then the Contractor would have to follow the dispute process within the contract if they wished to take it further which is adjudication (or initially senior representatives under NEC4).