ISSUE No.61 JANUARY 2013 2013: CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF THE NEC


New UK road maintenance contract based on NEC3


SIMON FULLALOVE EDITOR


A new standard contract for procuring England’s £3 billion annual spend on road maintenance is about to be launched based on the NEC3 Term Service Contract and Engineering and Construction Contract. The new Highways Maintenance Efficiency


Programme (HMEP) contract was announced on 29 November 2012 at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London by Matthew Lugg, environment and transport director at Leicestershire County Council and an HMEP board member. HMEP aims to streamline road maintenance


procurement by England’s 153 local highways authorities. Funded by the Department for Transport its members include the Highways Agency, Highways Term Maintenance Association and representatives of local highways authorities.


Significant savings According to Lugg, a survey carried out


by HMEP in 2011 revealed that English local


highways authorities had developed a confusing array of bespoke road maintenance contracts, often variants of standard forms. ‘The many different forms in use place a


significant financial burden on the supply chain as it has to interpret the different requirements on each occasion to determine where the risk lies and how to price the work,’ he said. ‘There are therefore significant savings to be


made if the sector moves towards a standard suite of procurement documents.’


Based on TSC and ECC Lugg said the survey identified that most


authorities were using NEC3-based contracts while a smaller number were using JCT and ICE variants. ‘It was agreed the HMEP contract would be


based on the NEC3 Term Service Contract, recognising it as the most appropriate form of contract for procuring term services.’ Elements of the NEC3 Engineering and


Construction Contract will also be incorporated


into the HMEP form to allow it to be used for the procurement of projects, thus increasing its flexibility and wider offer to the sector. The new contract is part of a wider suite of


documents comprising an Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) notice, prequalification questionnaire, instructions for tendering, highway maintenance specification and standard details, and extensive guidance notes.


NEC training package Lugg said work was also underway to develop


an NEC training package. ‘The current proposal includes offering free access to Thomas Telford Training’s ‘NEC3: Introduction to the Term Service Contract’ e-learning package and two- day workshops about the NEC3 contract, the HMEP variant and other HMEP products,’ he said. ●


For further information please visit the HMEP website at www.dft.gov.uk/hmep.


CONTENTS NEC: Sustaining the Olympic effect BBC programme praises NEC


NEC projects again dominated British Construction Industry Awards


Asia-Pacific Users’ Group update ECC chosen by ICC in the Netherlands


Assessing the amount due under ECC option C


BIM, IP and NEC3


Assessing compensation events: which programme do you use?


FAQs


spaces, a café, toilets, gift shop and parking for the World Heritage site of basalt lava columns. The new facilities, described as ‘two folds into the landscape’, have a sloping grassed roof and facades made from basalt stone columns and glass. Project manager was Edmond Shipway (photo: Marie-Louise Halpenny)


The £18.5 million Giants Causeway Visitor Centre in Northern Ireland was completed under an NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract option A last summer. Designed by architect Heneghan Peng and built by Gilbert-Ash, the stunning 1800 m2


building provides exhibition


Updated edition of Managing Reality now published


Diary


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SOFTWARE • BOOKS & GUIDES • CONTRACTS • TRAINING • USERS’ GROUP • CONSULTANCY • DIGITAL • NEWSLETTERS • CONFERENCES


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