The Contractor’s employees can recover a maximum of 1 no. professional subscription annually but it’s unclear whether this is considered Defined Cost.
I think it could come under People 1 (11) Wages, salaries and amounts paid by the Contractor for people paid according to the time worked while they are within the Working Areas.
In my experience this is a generally accepted people cost and could be classed as component 12 (d) ‘special allowances’.
One thing to consider is whether this cost is subject to tax and National Insurance. If the organisation is on ‘list 3’ that is HMRC’s ‘list of approved professional bodies’, which virtually all of the recognised construction organisations are on, then no adjustment is made. Furthermore, if the subscription is paid as part of a ‘salary sacrifice arrangement’ .then these costs are not reported.