I am currently involved in a Public Works Contract in ROI, there is an item within the bill which did not describe the window frames as fire rated , and allows for fire rated glazing “extra over”. The client has told us to proceed to order the additional materials and has told me the employers representative will THEN decide if it is a compensation event. My thinking is that we will be at their mercy and would prefer agreement prior to order. How might I best proceed.
Hard to answer within an NEC forum where the same rules will not apply. The answer is what ever that contract says is the answer!
From an NEC perspective there is the power to issue an instruction to do something that the Contractor is obliged to follow - and the wording (of clause 27.3) even uses the word obey. If this is something that the Contractor believes is not their risk and hence a compensation event, they notify accordingly and the PM decides if they agree and if yes asks for a quote.
I suspect the answer would be very similar under your contract. However - by all means the Contractor can TRY to see they will not proceed until they have agreed and see where it gets the,/what reaction they get and then decide what to do from there.