In NEC4 Option C when should the contractor submit the Final Account and what is the role of the PM and timelines?
Good question PD78.
The final assessment is made by the PM no later than 4 weeks after the issue of the Defects Certificate or 13 weeks after a termination. Please look at clause 53.1.
If this is not done then Clause 53.2 kicks in allowing the Contractor to send its own assessment to the Client.
If an assessment is made by the PM you need to ensure you do not get caught out by Clause 53.3 as this makes the PM’s assessment conclusive unless you take certain actions as are set out in that clause.
The case of Brighton v Dovehouse in 2014 confirms that the mere issue of a Notice of Adjudication is enough to defeat the conclusive nature of the PM’s assessment. That means that all you have to do is issue a Notice of Adjudication without making a Referral to an Adjudicator.
Make sure that you keep a note in your diary of the dates when assessments are due to be issued and when they are issued.
Thanks for the above, Am I right in understanding that the contractor has no obligation to submit the final assessment in the NEC4 option C contract? when you say keep a note of dates when assessments are to be issued, are these contractual or is there flexibility?
The NEC4C Contract says that the PM issues it 4 weeks after the Supervisor issues the Defects Certificate. It doesn’t say if the Contractor is required to submit an application but if there is no application I am not sure how the PM can assess. I would submit your application on the day that the Defects Certificate is issued or shortly thereafter.
Thank you for the above:), the scenario that we have with the contractor is that they submit the assessments on the 28th/29th of each month and we haven’t received the last submission, which should have been the final account on the 29th June, so in order to adhere with the contract, should we then submit a cert for what we did last month as a replicate? pls advise asap