Unveiling Success Stories

Scalar were approached by our client (a Train Operating Company) to provide a commercial and procurement strategy, preparation of the contract documents and to undertake the procurement for the early contractor involvement of suppliers to undertake the design and construction of platform extensions and associated signal moves at various rail stations.

The need for an early contractor involvement approach became apparent on examination of programme delivery timescales, status of design and infrastructure complexity. More specifically the outline design would not be sufficiently developed in time the consequence being that under a traditional procurement approach the client would not be able to deliver the works as planned.

As the procurement strategy developed, so did the contracting strategy. The intended contract was the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract, using the NEC’s Early Contractor Involvement Secondary Option Clause. However, after extensive discussions with the client it transpired that the NEC position of a target cost based approached presented an unacceptable level of risk sharing and we were asked to develop the contract such that the send phase of the ECI contract was delivered on a fixed price basis (i.e. NEC4 ECC Option A). Working with the client we developed the necessary procurement and contract documents and contract amendments to enable a cost reimbursable ECI phase and a priced delivery phase.

In addition, in order to maintain a competitive environment in the ECI phase, the decision was taken to take three contractors through the ECI period. The award of the final design and construction phase would go to the two contractors that provided the client with the best overall value. Whilst this incurred additional cost in in the ECI phase it was considered a worthwhile investment to maintain a competitive edge to the procurement.

The procurement of the contact contractors focussed on the tenderers’ technical, managerial and delivery capability using a 60/40 quality/price ratio. In particular the tenderers’ approach to the development of the design and ability to work within the Network Rail environment was tested. An unusual aspect of the tender is that the design was not sufficiently developed to allow for a price to be submitted. The price element of the tender was therefore based on the tenderers’ Contract Data Part Two entries (rates and fee percentage). Using a model developed for this procurement, the model assessed the resources anticipated for the works, along with an allowance for compensation events to which the tenderer’s commercial submissions were applied.

The tender stage resulted in three competitive bids and the winning contractors were taken forward into the ECI stage. Keeping the competition live during the ECI phase proved to be effective and competitive Stage 2 bids were received. These bids allowed the client to select the best combination of supplier and works elements to deliver the project most effectively. The benefits of undertaking a competitive ECI period became apparent at this time. Notably that the bids received were well under the budgeted price for the works, and more than covered the ECI costs of the contractor that was not taken forward.

In addition to providing the procurement and contacting strategy once the contracts were let, we provided NEC support and training services to the client. Our training was adapted to the contracts we developed and ensured that both client and contractor were fully aware of their obligations and the intent and ethos of the contract. This approach dovetailed synergistically with the use of CEMAR to provide a contracting environment with high compliance to the terms of the contract and ultimately the successful delivery of the project.

As part of its Build Build Build Infrastructure Programme the Philippines Government approved the construction of a expressway network across the country. Whilst there are a number of parties involved in this enormous infrastructure programme, one concessionaire has chosen to adopt the NEC Engineering and Construction Contract to deliver the construction works. This is a significant departure from the standard approach of using a FIDIC based contract. The choice of the NEC as the contracting platform comes from a desire to work collaboratively so as to better deliver works in the face of significant local challenges.

Scalar were initially approached to provide training and support services for the client, which meant providing a series of NEC3 ECC Introduction Workshops. Working with the client we developed bespoke, two day, highly interactive workshops to be delivered on-site in the Philippines.

These workshops, with upwards of seventy people from the client and the contractor, proved to be very well received by all, and highly effective. Over the past few years, we have been privileged to support our Philippines clients in delivering these transformative infrastructure projects in Manila, Clarke Freeport, Cavite and Tagaytay, along with supporting them in developing a body of NEC3 (and now NEC4) knowledge and competence, allowing the client to effectively deliver to time and budget.

As the relationship has developed our scope of services has widened to include supporting the client in drafting contracts, providing procurement support as well as developing collaboration workshops as the client strives for best practice in the procurement and delivery of NEC4 based contracts.

It is clear to us here at Scalar that this investment has reaped may rewards from effective project delivery to development of peoples’ skill and capability. We would be delighted to discuss with you how we can support you in your NEC journey.

​As anyone who is familiar with NEC contracts knows, keeping on top of the administration is crucial to maintaining contractual rights. This is often made easier by the use of contract administration system such as CEMAR. Here at Scalar we have been working with CEMAR to provide their NEC4 contract administration system to one of our key clients.

As well as supporting the provision of the platform, Scalar also provided CEMAR Superuser capability.

Firstly, we provided the background administration required to run CEMAR. This included setting up contracts, dealing with adding and removing people and ensuring that all users had the correct access permissions.

Secondly, we helped Project Managers to stay on top of their communications by providing communication status reports, and we also provided senior management summary reports on a periodic basis.

This service was supported by our in-house NEC experience and capability to help ensure that the client’s contracts were administered to their terms.

In addition to day-to-day management of CEMAR our Superuser also provided user training and support, troubleshooting and issue resolution. In particular we developed highly effective interactive CEMAR workshops.

Using a practice project in a live training session we reviewed at each of the communication forms in CEMAR (e.g. early warnings, compensation events, programme submission, technical queries, etc.) explained the contractual mechanism and implications and then using an example had the delegates complete the CEMAR forms.

This allowed client personnel to see how the contractor’s forms are completed and vice versa and share best practice for effectively managing the communication forms. This interactivity created a highly engaged environment that furthered the collaborative objectives of the NEC contract.

By the end of the training users were proficient in navigating the CEMAR platform, understood the contractual implications of why CEMAR had to be used and were able to take forward their new knowledge for the benefit of the project.

Here at Scalar we can tailor training to suit your organisational needs and particular conditions of contract. This ensures that delegates’ knowledge becomes aligned with the contract they are using and minimises the chances of min-interpretation of the contract. If you would like more information on our training offering, please see our training pages.