NEW ENGINEERING CONTRACT AND ACTIVITY SCHEDULE

NEC calls schedule of values an activity schedule. How NEC interprets activity schedule in Option A:Priced contract with activity schedule.

Activity schedule is prepared and priced by tenderers. It is not part of the works information and must not be used to describe the works.

The prices entered by the tenderers for each activity are lump sums, not unit rates as in the bill of quantities. The tenderer decides how to break up his work into activities, enters them on the schedule and prices each one. If the employer wants to specify particular activities which the contractor is to identify in the activity schedule he may do so, stating his requirements in the instructions to tenderers.

Use of Option A of the NEC does not require a bill of quantities to be issued to tenderers or to be used subsequently. Consequently, tenderers have to calculate quantities from the works information where they need to know a quantity in order to estimate the cost of the work. For many contracts (including process plant, building construction etc) this is a significant task.

In order to reduce the cost and time involved during the bid preparation period, employers may wish to calculate quantities before inviting tenders and then issue a copy of the quantities list to all tenderers. When this is done, it must be made clear that the tenderer will have used the quantities and relied upon them entirely at his own risk of their inaccuracy or incompleteness. No amendment to the contract or addition to the contract is necessary to achieve this as the contract is clear that the contractor's obligation is to carry out the work described in the works information. There's no mechanism for this obligation to be qualified or modified by the issue of quantities to tenderers.  

The total of the prices of the items in the activity schedule is the tenderer's offer for providing the works. The cost of any items the tenderer may have omitted is deemed to be included in the prices for the other items.