NEC4 ECC Practitioner Course · Module 1 · Lesson 3 of 4
Reading and changing the words
Why it matters
Which completion date counts, when the gap is seven days at GBP 4,000 a day?
The answer is in how the conditions are printed.
Source: ECC 11.2(3), 66.2. Aldermere Contract Data part one.
The rule
Italics send you to the Contract Data, capitals to a definition
Read the print first.
In italics
An entry the Contract Data fills in, such as starting date.
Capital initials
A term the conditions define, mostly in 11.2, such as the Contract Date.
In the printed conditions, “terms identified in the Contract Data are in italics” (11.1).
Source: ECC 11.1, 11.2.
The rule
The Completion Date moves, but the completion date never does
Check delay against the Completion Date as it stands today.
| Where to look | At Aldermere | |
|---|---|---|
| completion datein italics | Contract Data part one | 30 April 2027 |
| Completion Datecapital initials | Clause 11.2(3) | 7 May 2027, since CE007 on 5 May 2026 |
| key datein italics | Contract Data part one | Key Date 1: 30 September 2026 |
| Key Datecapital initials | Clause 11.2(11) | The same, until it is changed |
The Completion Date is “the completion date unless later changed in accordance with the contract” (11.2(3)).
Source: ECC 11.2(3), 11.2(11).
The rule
A change no clause allows needs both Parties' signatures
Which clause allows it?
Provided for
Dana Whitfield, the Project Manager, may change the Scope or a Key Date (14.3).
An implemented compensation event changes the Prices and dates (66.2).
Otherwise
It has no effect “unless it has been agreed, confirmed in writing and signed by the Parties” (12.3).
Source: ECC 12.3, 14.3, 66.2.
See it on the project
On the Contract Date Leila diarises four deadlines from two dates
Leila Moss, commercial manager for Merrow Vale, the Contractor, works out each date from the right start.
Why is the first programme due on 2 February, not 9 February?
CE007 moves the Completion Date to 7 May 2027. Does the Contract Data entry change?
Source: ECC 11.2(3), 15.2, 31.1, 50.1. Aldermere Contract Data.
Quick check · Reading the words
Two questions on what you have just covered
Answer, then read why.
2 questions to answer
Source: ECC 11.1, 15.2, 50.1.
Try it
Sort the five changes Leila sees in 2026
For each change, find the clause that allows it. No clause means signatures.
…
Provided for by the contract
- Dana instructs a flatter slope on the embankment.
- Suppose Dana changes Key Date 1 by an instruction.
- CE007 is implemented, and the Completion Date becomes 7 May 2027.
Needs a signed agreement
- Suppose Dana proposes calendar-month assessments in place of four-weekly ones.
- Suppose the minutes of a progress meeting say all retention is released at Completion.
Source: ECC 12.3, 14.3, 60.1(1), 60.1(4), 66.2.
Recap
Read the print, then check each date as it stands today
The Contract Checklists workbook dates the first programme.
On Monday at work
- Look up an italic term in the Contract Data.
- Diarise the four first deadlines on the Contract Date (15.2, 31.1, 50.1).
- Put a change no clause allows in writing, signed by both Parties.
In the Toolkit: NEC4 Contract Checklists (ECC and ECS) (Excel) Members
Independent course material. It is not published or endorsed by NEC. Clause references are to the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract, June 2017 with amendments January 2023. The project and the people are invented. Short quotes from NEC4 (© NEC 2017) and the FIDIC Red Book (© FIDIC 2017) are used for review and comment. Read the full clauses in your own copy of the contract.
Source: ECC 11.1, 11.2(3), 12.3, 15.2, 31.1, 50.1.
Go deeper (optional)
Clauses 11 and 12 settle a few more points of reading
Optional. Three reading points that settle arguments later.
When is Completion?
ECC 11.2(2)
The Scope says nothing about what is due by then. What counts?
ECC 11.2(2)
Does a singular word cover the plural?
ECC 12.1, 12.2, 12.4
Source: ECC 11.2(2), 12.1, 12.2, 12.4.