Time bar 61.3 - Kings Coronation

NEC3 and NEC4 Contracts Compensation Events
1

We are working under a NEC4

I hade raised a Compensation Event Notification under Clause 60.1(19) for the Kings coronation as this was not known as a bank holiday at the Contract Date.

The press release was on the 6th Nov 2022 which the PM is stating that is when the time bar starts ie 8 weeks after the event.

However I am curious to know when the date starts as in my opinion the Compensation Event has not happened yet as the bank holiday is on the 8th may therefore the date starts when I believe it to be a Compensation Event which is the date I notified.

We are loosing one day on the programme so will be a fair bit of cost and 1 day to the Completion date as a result.

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2

I can certainly see the PM’s point of view here; this is not news, and I struggle to see why this couldn’t have been notified inside the 8 weeks from 22nd November. However, you could have an argument here - the clause is ‘… eight weeks of becoming aware that the event has happened …’, so I guess there could be a debate about whether ‘the event’ is the announcement of the Bank Holiday, or the occurrence of the Bank Holiday.

I am, however, a bit surprised that this is notified under Clause 60.1(19). Its hard to see that a single day off is a prevention event which stops you in accordance with the first and second bullets, and depending on when the Contract Date was, its possible that you will be struggling for the 4th bullet.

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Thanks for the response. I came to the same Conclusion and it isnt clear whether the event is the 6th November or the actual date of the bank holiday.

The bank holiday will effect planned completion by 1 day resulting in additional charge of 1 days prelims so second bullet applies.

The Contract date was before announcement.

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4

I think the event (the event that is a compensation event) you are referring to will be when the additional bank holiday happens. Your argument being that the lost day stops you completing the works by the date shown on the Accepted Programme. Becoming aware of the additional bank holiday does not in itself cause a delay/stops completion, if anything it allows you to take measures to negate should you want to ie you can prevent it.

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