Prelims who owns them? who has rights on them? where do obligations stop with prelims

NEC3 and NEC4 Contracts
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We have submitted our prelims to the MC which they have accepted as part of our tender bid, however they now seem to think this is their money to use when they need it.

we have included for a crane to off load some of our materials later in the project. however the MC insisted because it is within our prelims it must go to site now! the reason they want it onsite is to offload some of their steel being delivered in the next few weeks. I do not believe I am obligated to do this for the client and believe it is a CE. am I right ?
off loading client materials was not in the works information. although transporting them to working location is.

leading on from this can the MC cut my prelims if for example I have 3 labourers onsite and not 4 as stated in my prelims breakdown?

Would it not be the case prelims are my money to expend throughout the project as I see best fit. providing i am delivering the works within the parameters of the contract, on time, within budget etc etc

thanks

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@salmo please can you confirm which type of NEC contract you are working on and what the main option is?

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@Neil_Earnshaw we are working on a NEC3 option A contract.

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Thank you @salmo, under Option A the Activity Schedule is purely a commercial tool to facilitate cashflow, it does not describe what you are required to do, this is what the Subcontract Works Information does. Therefore if you do not need to send the crane to offload your materials at the moment in order to Provide the Subcontract Works, then you have no obligation to do so.

Two important clauses:

  • Clause 20.1 - Provide the Subcontract Works in accordance with the Subcontract Works Information.

  • Clause 54.1 - information in the Activity Schedule is not Subcontract Works Information or Site Information.

Therefore if the Contractor wants you to provide a crane for their use, they would need to formally instruct you to do so under clause 14.3. This would then be a compensation event for the additional cost.

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@Neil_Earnshaw can the client issue a negative CE if for example I do not provide one of my engineers listed within the prelim section?

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@salmo it’s up to you to decide how to allocate your engineers and no the Contractor could not issue a negative CE for non provision of one of them. Remember it’s the Subcontract Works Information that tells you WHAT to do, the Activity Schedule merely tells you how much you will be paid.

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