Contractors who hate NEC admin are the ones losing money

29 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker argues that while NEC contracts require slightly more ongoing administration and periodic re‑estimating than traditional contracts, this level of admin is appropriate and beneficial. The continuous, contemporaneous record‑keeping inherent in NEC contracts helps keep project information fresh, reduces uncertainty, and prevents the long‑running, costly delay and disruption claims that often arise under traditional contracts. By initially estimating the whole project and then updating estimates as work progresses, NEC promotes a more satisfactory, proactive approach that leads to better overall project outcomes.

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So NEC contracts, yeah, there's a little bit more admin to do as you go. Is it more though? It's probably the right amount, isn't it? It's good practice project management. The payoff is that at the end of the project, you shouldn't have so much uncertainty and, you know, there shouldn't be that last-minute panic and realisation, oh no, we're going long. We've got a big delay and disruption claim to wrap up. And when you think about traditional forms of contract, that can quite often go on for years. And meanwhile, the, the people who have built the project have gone on to other projects. So, you know, facts start to fade, knowledge starts to fade, um, whereas NEC favors that contemporaneous approach prospectively, using, um, the, the people and the information as it's still fresh. And I think whilst that means a little bit of estimating— we estimated the whole project at the beginning We just— we're now needing to estimate little bits as we go. I think that's a more satisfactory approach, is going to get us a better project outcome.