I recently asked a question on planned and sectional completion dates. I’m still struggling to understand some of the relationships between main planned and contract completion dates as I’m not used to sectional completion dates.
We have sectional completion dates for all activities on site. Do I still show a planned completion at the top of the programme or are they all separate planned completions within each sectional completion?
The client wants to bring forward a few sectional completion dates, some being at the end of the programme of works. We can’t reach agreement on cost for the CE’s. They’re assessing a lot lower than our quotes. We know we can’t refuse an instruction. As this isn’t an instruction to accelerate the contract completion date doesn’t move. Does the instruction naturally create terminal float between the last sectional completion and contract completion? If this is the case can damages still be applied for not completing a section in time or could not be enforced until contract completion due to new terminal float
Yes, you do need to show a planned completion date for all your Sectional Completion Dates. See link below which discusses a similar question.
On your Client’s requests, your Sectional Completion Dates can only be moved forward by Acceleration (36.1) in NEC3. The rules for a sectional Completion Date are the same as the rules for a Completion Date. You as the Contractor can ‘refuse’ to do so.
If you have agreed to Accelerate and your Compensation Events are being assessed less than quoted your recourse is Adjudication unless you have an ADR procedure written into your contract.
For the Programme, NEC says you have to show the Completion Date (so the single date required by the Contract) and planned Completion (the date you think you will complete the works). Because of X5 you also have to show each sections Completion Date and planned Completion.
In practice planned Completion will = the last sectional planned Completion. I would still have a separate activity, so all my sectional planned Completions would be logic linked to a single contract planned Completion.
The nitty gritty of how you show that is up to you (unless there is Scope about this). All NEC says is that it must be shown. However, if you were to suggest those dates should be in some sort of summary at the top of the programme, I’d agree.
On your second question:
The client can’t instruct you to accelerate. Acceleration is not a CE and does not work in the same way as one.
The client can instruct you to provide a quotation for acceleration, (NEC4 36.1) but you don’t have to provide one (36.2). The quotation you provide is effectively on a ‘take it or leave it’ basis (although if you want to negotiate, and possibly then revise your quotation, I doubt anybody will stop you).
That logic applies to both time and money. Effectively you are negotiating for the client to buy earlier completion. I also note that the quotation does not have to be built up using defined cost, like other quotations. Effectively, you can name your price. If the Client doesn’t like it, that’s the end of the road.