NEC 4 contract question, please quote much more relevant clause references for each question from a to e and give detailed explanation for reference, hope to have long answers, thanks !

Question

An Option C ECC contract is being used on the construction of a tidal barrier including secondary Options X2, X6, X7 and X20. Any response referring to dispute resolution should identify whether Option W1, W2 or W3 applies as an assumption.

The tidal barrier is being designed by theClient. TheContractorencounters much worse physical conditions on Site than those envisaged by the estimators at tender. Based on the information contained in the Site Information theContractorconsiders that it would have been unreasonable to have allowed for this and that this is therefore a compensation event.

a. What should theContractordo in this instance and is there a time limit?

[4 marks]

Some time later, theProject Managerfails to respond to a different notified compensation event. TheContractorrealises this two weeks after it notified the event.

b. What options are available to theContractorand what happens if theProject Managerstill fails to respond?

[6 marks]

TheProject Managerfinally responds agreeing that this is a compensation event. The quotation is provided by theContractorand this is accepted in full by theProject Manager. When theContractorundertakes the work, it transpires that a subcontract quote was omitted from the quotation and from the programme assessment. As a result, the compensation event will cause theContractorto lose money as it stands and the work will affect planned Completion. TheProject Managerrealises that the compensation event quotation contained these errors.

c. Can theProject Managerre-assess the compensation event?

[4 marks]

TheClientwants to get a price for some work before being committed. Dependent upon the cost, the additional work may or may not be instructed.

d. What provisions exist in the contract to obtain a quotation before committing to the work itself?

[5 marks]

Part way through the project theProject Managerinstructs a major change to the Scope. This is very complex and there are a lot of unknown ground conditions on this particular part of the Site. There are design options within the change that have not been finalised. TheClient, however, still wants to obtain a quotation for this work which needs to start straight away.

e. How should theProject Managerproceed and how may the risk to theContractorbe limited?

[6 marks]