The data points that actually improve project performance

14 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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1:07

In this segment of William Doyle MRICS’s YouTube video, two speakers discuss how contract clauses—specifically under NEC3—are interpreted in practice. They illustrate the point with a training‑course case study about a specification change for cherry‑tree species. Rather than undertaking a costly time‑and‑motion study to determine the defined cost of the change, the project manager and contractor may simply agree on a comparable tree, recognizing that the administrative cost of a formal analysis could exceed the benefit. The dialogue highlights the usefulness of such contract provisions, while also warning that hidden “loss‑leader” clauses can undermine project performance if not kept in mind. The overall message stresses the importance of balancing formal contractual mechanisms with pragmatic, cost‑effective decisions to improve project outcomes.

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this is, that's not the intention of these clauses, is it? But I think that's maybe the interpretation by some people going back to this point about confusion.
It depends what it is. I mean, if we're talking about one of the questions, I seem to remember one of the case studies from training courses I did a long time ago, something about cherry trees. If we're planting cherry trees and a specification, a change to the, what was works information and NEC3 comes down and specifies a slightly different species of cherry tree, we're probably not going to get too excited about doing a full-blown time and motion study on looking at the defined cost, it might be that the cost of doing that is more than just agreeing. It's a similar size and shape. So this gives the project manager and the contractor acting appropriately for their, you know, to come up with something that's sensible. And so, you know, I think it's a really useful provision and it absolutely should be there, but each of those, so both the contractor and the project manager have in the back of their mind got this ability to say, well, actually, I think there was a loss leader perhaps in the contract, or