NEC3 Design Rejections

NEC3 and NEC4 Contracts
1

Hi,

Contractors question, NEC 3 ECC with contractors design elements. One of our design elements is a feature staircase. The WI indicates the client would like a straight staircase with three flights of stairs, two intermediate landings with one supporting goalpost structure roughly in the middle.

The issue is the WI indicates the stringer should be flat plate steel.

Our engineers have run through the cases and found the flat plate required an additional supporting goalpost. This design was submitted and rejected by the PM on the basis it has additional support, a diversion from the WI.

We redesigned the stairs to have a box section stringer (a diversion from the WI) but a single support.

The cost of the box section stringer is far greater than the 2nd support but is it recoverable as a client’s preference?

It was notified as a CE for rejection of a design for a reason other than non compliance with the WI but rejected on the basis the PM does not believe it’s a comp event.

Many thanks

2

If the Employer has been prescriptive with what it wants your design to be then, subject to it not being impossible (not just expensive), that is what you are obliged to provide. If the design outlined by the Employer is impossible to achieve then you should notify the Project Manager, also notify an early warning and ask for a risk reduction meeting to resolve the matter. If the outline design can be achieved then it is for to do so.

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