ECC Option A - D&B
Can the client ask for specific products to be included within the specifications on a design and build project?
It was my impression that as the contractor on an Option A D&B we had the freedom to choose through the procurement procedure the product as these products were not specified in the Activity Schedule or Works Information. .
The Employer / Client can specify products via the Project Manager using an instruction to change the Works Information under clause 14.3 (NEC3 ECC). The Project Manager is also required to notify this as a compensation event under clause 61.1 however if they don’t do this you should notify under clause 61.3. If the Project Manager fails to notify then the 8 week time bar does not apply to your notification however it would be in your interest to do it as soon as possible so that you can hopefully recover any associated cost and time via a compensation event quotation under clause 62.3.
Firstly, the Activity Schedule is not used to specify any product, which is the job of the Works Information.
Where a particular product is not specified then the designer would be free to choose whatever product they wanted, provided it complies with any stated performance requirements.
If the Client (Employer) wishes to specify a particular product ‘post-contract’ then this would be a change to the Works Information which should be instructed accordingly by the Project Manager.
It is possible that there won’t be a cost implication but the Contractor would be given the opportunity to assess factors such as; product availability and lead times, the delivery, storage, handling and application/installation requirements, testing, etc, which could influence the Defined Cost of a product, so quoted unit cost would only be part of the quotation assessment.