Introduction
We are very pleased to announce that the Northern NEC People Conference will return for a second year in Leeds on Tuesday 26th November 2024. The feedback after the 2023 event was incredible and proved that there’s strong demand for a Northern NEC People Conference.
The event is again being held at Cloth Hall Court in Leeds. Delegates will have the chance to ask the speakers about their presentations or any other aspect of NEC contracts generally in a question time session and of course there will be plenty opportunities for networking throughout the day.
After the conference, delegates are invited to join the sponsors and speakers at a drinks reception.
This event is free to attend thanks to our generous sponsors who this year are: Digital Beehive, The Contract Coach, Gather, Osborne Clarke, RPC and the University of Leeds.
Agenda
-
09:30
Introduction
An introduction to the day’s proceedings. -
09:40
Revolutionary New Role for NEC4 in delivering Sellafield’s PPP programme.
Sellafield has embraced NEC4 and the Project 13 enterprise model to optimise the success of its £7bn, 20-year public-private partnership (PPP) programme. This approach has been geared to not only enhance project delivery, but also meets critical local socio-economic objectives in the West Cumbrian region. This talk will discuss how the NEC4 contract has been tailored to promote incentivised performance, building on the collaborative principles outlined in Project 13. It will then outline how local socio- economic outcomes have been used in the frameworks, to ensure committed and evolving supply chain partnerships capable of creating a lasting legacy of jobs, improved skills and a thriving circular economy, ensuring long term prosperity in the region. -
10:25
Effective Contract Governance
Dr Jon Broome from Leading Edge Projects will discuss the importance of effective contract governance to empower the project management team to comply with both requirements of clause 10 – act as stated in the contract and act in a spirit of mutual trust and co-operation. -
11:40
The NEC Weather Clause in a Changing Climate
This talk will explore the NEC weather clause, its impact on contractors, and how climate change reshapes its role. Discover innovative solutions to navigate weather risk in today's projects. -
12:20
Records, Records, Records!
Renowned construction lawyer and author of the Engineer’s Bible (Engineering Law and the ICE Contracts) Max Abrahamson said “a party to a dispute will learn three lessons, often too late: the importance of records, the importance of records and the importance of records”. This talk will explore good practice in site record keeping on NEC contracts. -
14:00
Collaborating with NEC4 on the Regent Street Flyover
Leeds City Council appointed Balfour Beatty through the Scape civil engineering framework for the £31m design, demolition and reconstruction of the Regent Street flyover using the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract with main Option C (target contract with activity schedule). The project team recognised the importance of collaborative working from the start in order to successfully deliver this complex project on programme and within budget. This talk will explore how the NEC4 helped the project team to achieve this. -
14:40
Defective Defects
Is every failure to meet the requirements of the Scope to be treated equally…or treated at all? How can you tell whether the Scope has been complied with…what even is Scope in this context? So, there is a piece of work falling short of the Scope, does that always prevent Completion or are there circumstances where it does… if it doesn't is any further action needed? There is insurance but who deals with it, who receives the cash, and what happens in the meantime? A talk to cover practical issues using examples from real projects (names will be changed to protect the innocent…and not so innocent!) -
15:50
How to keep your bees in order
Contract management systems are widely used for managing NEC contracts, but how many people use them properly? This talk will explain how to get the most out of your contract management system. -
16:15
Question Time Panel
Chance for the audience to ask questions of the panel of experts about any of the subjects discussed during the day or any other aspect of NEC contracts generally. -
16:45
Who Wants to be a NEC Millionaire
Based on the popular quiz show the lucky contestants chosen from our audience will get to show off their knowledge of NEC contracts, using their lifelines including “ask the audience” and “phone an expert”. The audience will also be able to play along so we’ll see who’s the best of the best!
NEC People Conference Sessions
Introduction
An introduction to the day’s proceedings.
Revolutionary New Role for NEC4 in delivering Sellafield’s PPP programme.
Sellafield has embraced NEC4 and the Project 13 enterprise model to optimise the success of its £7bn, 20-year public-private partnership (PPP) programme. This approach has been geared to not only enhance project delivery, but also meets critical local socio-economic objectives in the West Cumbrian region. This talk will discuss how the NEC4 contract has been tailored to promote incentivised performance, building on the collaborative principles outlined in Project 13. It will then outline how local socio- economic outcomes have been used in the frameworks, to ensure committed and evolving supply chain partnerships capable of creating a lasting legacy of jobs, improved skills and a thriving circular economy, ensuring long term prosperity in the region.
Effective Contract Governance
Dr Jon Broome from Leading Edge Projects will discuss the importance of effective contract governance to empower the project management team to comply with both requirements of clause 10 – act as stated in the contract and act in a spirit of mutual trust and co-operation.
The NEC Weather Clause in a Changing Climate
This talk will explore the NEC weather clause, its impact on contractors, and how climate change reshapes its role. Discover innovative solutions to navigate weather risk in today's projects.
Records, Records, Records!
Renowned construction lawyer and author of the Engineer’s Bible (Engineering Law and the ICE Contracts) Max Abrahamson said “a party to a dispute will learn three lessons, often too late: the importance of records, the importance of records and the importance of records”. This talk will explore good practice in site record keeping on NEC contracts.
Collaborating with NEC4 on the Regent Street Flyover
Leeds City Council appointed Balfour Beatty through the Scape civil engineering framework for the £31m design, demolition and reconstruction of the Regent Street flyover using the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract with main Option C (target contract with activity schedule). The project team recognised the importance of collaborative working from the start in order to successfully deliver this complex project on programme and within budget. This talk will explore how the NEC4 helped the project team to achieve this.
Defective Defects
Is every failure to meet the requirements of the Scope to be treated equally…or treated at all? How can you tell whether the Scope has been complied with…what even is Scope in this context? So, there is a piece of work falling short of the Scope, does that always prevent Completion or are there circumstances where it does… if it doesn't is any further action needed? There is insurance but who deals with it, who receives the cash, and what happens in the meantime? A talk to cover practical issues using examples from real projects (names will be changed to protect the innocent…and not so innocent!)
How to keep your bees in order
Contract management systems are widely used for managing NEC contracts, but how many people use them properly? This talk will explain how to get the most out of your contract management system.
Question Time Panel
Chance for the audience to ask questions of the panel of experts about any of the subjects discussed during the day or any other aspect of NEC contracts generally.
Who Wants to be a NEC Millionaire
Based on the popular quiz show the lucky contestants chosen from our audience will get to show off their knowledge of NEC contracts, using their lifelines including “ask the audience” and “phone an expert”. The audience will also be able to play along so we’ll see who’s the best of the best!
Speakers
Ben Walker
Widely respected for his extensive experience with contract management and digital transformation, Walker founded CEMAR in 2003 to help large-scale infrastructure projects manage New Engineering Contracts (NEC) and International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) contracts. CEMAR proved instrumental in delivering iconic projects for National Highways, Nuclear New Build, ITER, Heathrow Airport, HS2, Network Rail, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Its rapid adoption across the industry led to its acquisition by Thinkproject in 2018.
Dan Barnes
Dominic Doig
Dominic Doig was around when NEC was first brought into use, and has worked with all the iterations up to the latest NEC4 model and is now getting his teeth stuck into Project 13 – the latest incarnation of contracting to promote outcome-based project objectives and promote collaborative working.
Dr Jon Broome
Dr Jon Broome has over twenty-five years involvement with the NEC family of contracts as an academic, author, trainer and consultant. As an academic, Jon studied under one of its two co-instigators gaining the world’s first PhD through applied research on its use.His finding was fed back into the second edition and third editions, for which his contributions were acknowledged. He has also led the development of the Professional Services Short Contract, in developing the concept and drafting the clauses.As an author, he has numerous articles and academic papers published, is the author of the highly praised book ‘NEC: A User’s Guide’ series of books (with the NEC4 version published last year) and, together with Glenn Hide, wrote the NEC3 eLearning Academy from Built Intelligence.As a trainer, he has delivered over 800 days of training around the world on all aspects of the contract.As a consultant, he prefers to be involved in the front end helping develop contract strategy, particularly for complex projects, from which he has written additional clauses, critiqued and developed the other contract clauses, helped run the selection process and then trained the team
Glenn Hide
Glenn Hide: Director of GMH Planning Ltd which for over 18 years has provided specialist training/consultancy and management resources to those working and administering under the NEC family of contracts. His engaging practical training style has led to a large proportion of the industry calling on GMH Planning for their NEC contract training. Glenn has presented on aspects of the contract at various national conferences and had published into the industry a number of articles. Glenn is the founder of the NEC People LinkedIn Group from which this annual conference has emerged which now has over 12,200 active users and by far the biggest discussion forum for NEC in the UK.
John Rossiter
John Rossiter is a strong advocate and expert in NEC Contracts which are a key enabler and support the aims of modern collaborative procurement and project delivery.
Josh Graham
Josh Graham has been conducting technical research on construction for several years with the help of various grants. Using an Innovate UK grant, the team has focused on weather-related risks in the sector. Weather patterns are becoming increasingly disruptive due to the Climate Crisis, making this solution crucial to maintaining the viability of construction operations all over the world.
Muhammad Shamsi
Experienced Planning Engineer with result-proven professional record of generating top quality work, performance and delivering successful results in the field of project management. Continuous success and persistence towards the profitability and growth of the organization. Expertise in project planning and scheduling, earned value analysis, expert technical advice and strategic input into business strategy, project controls, EOT claims and delay analysis, directing operations with team leadership. Quality, health & safety conscious and able to fully concentrate on tasks; also understand and communicate information well.
Nathan Lambert
Neil Earnshaw
Neil is a quantity surveyor and project manager with over 30 years of experience in procuring and managing NEC contracts in the UK construction industry. He is a recognised expert in NEC contracts and as a trainer has delivered over 1,000 NEC Training courses, spoken at numerous national/international conferences, authored articles and had his work published. Neil’s article on key dates is cited in Dr Jon Broome’s NEC4: A User’s Guide which also includes a write-up of a workshop on collaborative working under NEC held at the NEC People Conference which he co-facilitated with Jon. Through his work across many sectors of industry over the years he has built up an extensive practical knowledge of the NEC contracts and how to set them up and manage them to improve the likelihood of successful outcomes from your projects and services.
Nick Ives
Nick, a stalwart in the construction software industry with 22 years of experience, is the Managing Director of Digital Beehive. His extensive experience in the construction industry provides a solid foundation for shaping Beehive’s strategic vision and navigating the complexities of the ever-evolving landscape.
Rob Horne
Rob has almost 30 years' experience in identifying, managing, avoiding and resolving disputes in the construction and related industries. He regularly acts on high profile projects across many different jurisdictions from the UK to Australia and is particularly well known for his innovative approaches to risk management, complex delay and disruption claims and the NEC form of contract.
Rob Ingall
Sponsors
Digital Beehive
Digital Beehive has been at the forefront of digital transformation in the UK construction industry since we released CCM, the first cloud-based NEC Contract Change Management software, over 20 years ago. Now, we are proud to introduce our latest innovation Contract Bee, the next-gen SaaS solution that makes managing construction contracts easier, faster and more compliant than ever. With Contract Bee, you can manage an unlimited number of contracts and frameworks on any web-enabled device. You can also stay on top of your contracts with Live Actions Dashboard and Notifications. Contract Bee’s 360-Notes allow unparalleled and seamless collaboration and communication between all parties.
Gather Insights
Gather provides digital site reporting software, creating powerful data-led insights and structured commercial analysis to unlock productivity opportunities in the infrastructure sector and accelerate sustainable construction. By providing granular data insights into the who, what, where, when and why of projects, teams are able to identify risks and opportunities and intervene sooner to navigate challenges before they arise. By aligning data with industry standard methods of measurement, teams can make more informed commercial decisions with quantifiable evidence to drive proactive contract administration and supply chain collaboration.
GMH Planning - NEC Training
Since 2006 GMH Planning have provided specialist NEC training, consultancy and resources into organisations who are using the NEC form of contract. Clients who we have provided extensive training programmes to include HS2, CECA, Crossrail, Thames Tideway, London Underground, Heathrow, Parliament, many local authorities as well as to a majority of the main contractors and consultants working in the UK.We provide engaging practical training to delegates who attend our sessions which are run both in-house and as public sessions. We also provide joint training to project teams which allows both Parties to understand the key principles of the contract and their own contract data/Z clauses, allowing them to head off in the right direction in terms of understanding and how to practically follow the rules of the contract. In addition, we provide more general consultancy and advice to clients and contractors, in particular in terms of disputes and also understanding Z clauses on a specific project.The GMH Planning website offers a wealth of free information in the form of guidance material, published articles, downloadable documents and a regular blog, so please visit for more details at gmhplanning.co.uk
Osborne Clarke
Osborne Clarke is an international legal practice providing strategic advice for more than 250 years and has a presence across Europe, Asia and the US.
RPC UK
As Oracle Primavera specialists and members of the Oracle Partner Network, RPC has been helping clients to deliver their projects successfully since 1992. We offer the full end-to-end lifecycle for providing a Primavera solution, creating a holistic environment in which programmes and projects are routinely completed successfully – on time and within budget – and expected returns on investment are fully realised. Our innovative pre-built Solution Sets utilise Oracle’s Primavera Unifier and enable clients to expedite the deployment of previously complex project controls solutions across a number of common business areas. These Solution Sets support compliance with NEC3 and NEC4 contract terms and ANSI/EIA-748 Earned Value Management requirements, enable collaborative working practices and improve clients’ project controls and risk mitigation. • World-leading Oracle Primavera EPPM software products • Oracle Specialized Primavera product implementation, integration and reporting consultancy expertise • Oracle Primavera application support • Oracle Primavera product education and training • Oracle SaaS and cloud hosting Using our NEC4 Solution Set, Unifier can deliver not only a more comprehensive system for managing and controlling an NEC4 Contract on its own, but with direct links to Cost Management, Scheduling via P6 and the reporting capabilities that this offers, it becomes what we believe to be the most powerful and fully integrated projects control platform available.
The Contract Coach
The Contract Coach® is the brainchild of Yosof Ewing, a former specialist contractor who for the last 17 years has recovered tens of millions of pounds for specialist contractors throughout the UK in adjudication. By giving specialist and main contractors the contractual knowledge and confidence needed to negotiate and manage contracts better, he is driving much needed change to the way our industry works. People make construction, so it is critical that those people know what they need to know about contracts and more importantly how to confidently assert and protect their rights in any contract situation. His message to the industry is clear – you are not a subcontractor, you are a specialist contractor, get the respect and the payment you deserve. Watch this space because 2024 will see the launch of a suite of products and services all designed to improve contracting for all.
University of Leeds
Established in 1904, the University of Leeds is one of the largest universities in the UK, part of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities and is renowned globally for the quality of research and teaching.