NEC4 Clause 31.2: Programme Requirements, NEC3 Differences and the Amendment Trap

Under the NEC Engineering and Construction Contract, the Accepted Programme is the record the Project Manager accepts, the reference point for progress discussions, and a source document for later compensation-event assessment.

That is why NEC4 clause 31.2 matters. It is the list that says what a programme submitted for acceptance has to show. A programme can look polished in P6, Microsoft Project or Powerproject and still miss something the contract asks for.

This guide explains the NEC4 clause 31.2 list, what changed from NEC3 to NEC4, how programme acceptance and revisions sit around it, and the trap in the NEC4 amendment schedules that makes a simple search for “31.2” misleading.

What NEC4 Clause 31.2 Asks the Programme to Show

NEC4 clause 31.2 is best read as a review checklist. Each programme submitted for acceptance has to show the starting date, access dates, Key Dates and the Completion Date. It also has to show planned Completion, the order and timing of the Contractor’s operations, the order and timing of work by the Client and Others, and the dates when the Contractor plans to meet each Condition for the Key Dates and complete work needed by Others.

The list then moves from dates into programme content. The submitted programme has to show provisions for float, time risk allowances, health and safety requirements, and the procedures in the contract. It also has to show when the Contractor needs access, acceptances, Plant and Materials, other things from the Client, and information from Others. For each operation, it has to include a statement of how the Contractor plans to do the work, identifying principal Equipment and other resources, plus any other information the Scope requires.

A reviewer should be able to see when activities happen, how the Contractor says the work will be done, what the Contractor needs from the Client and Others, and whether the programme carries the contract’s float, time-risk and procedural information.

The NEC4 addition that is easy to miss concerns form. The clause closes by saying that a programme issued for acceptance is in the form stated in the Scope. If the Scope requires a particular file format, coding structure or layout, that requirement matters. The programme can contain the right information and still be open to challenge if it isn’t in the form the Scope states.

NEC3 vs NEC4 Programme Requirements

The NEC3 and NEC4 clause 31.2 lists are substantively the same. The names changed with the forms: NEC3’s Employer became NEC4’s Client, and Works Information became Scope. The main extra sentence in NEC4 is the one above: a programme issued for acceptance is in the form stated in the Scope. NEC3 doesn’t have that sentence.

That means the review question is whether the submitted programme still satisfies the same core content list, plus the NEC4 Scope-form requirement where it applies.

The more material change sits next door, in acceptance. Under NEC4 clause 31.3, if the Project Manager doesn’t reply within the time allowed, the Contractor may notify that failure. If the failure continues for a further week after that notification, the programme is treated as accepted. NEC3 clause 31.3 doesn’t have that deemed-acceptance mechanism.

This is not automatic acceptance after silence alone. In NEC4, the Contractor still has to notify the Project Manager’s failure, and the further week then has to pass. The shortest path is the Project Manager’s two-week response period, then the Contractor’s notification, then one further week.

Acceptance: What the Project Manager Can Refuse

The Project Manager does not have an open-ended discretion to reject a programme. NEC4 clause 31.3 gives four reasons: the plans are not practicable, the programme does not show the information the contract requires, it does not represent the Contractor’s plans realistically, or it does not comply with the Scope. NEC3 uses the same structure, with Works Information in place of Scope.

For review, that is a useful discipline. If the issue is a missing method statement, missing resource statement, omitted Client information date or a Scope format problem, it should be tied back to the contract’s programme requirements rather than expressed as a general dislike of the programme.

It also means a technically attractive schedule is not enough. Logic density, a neat WBS and tidy calendars help, but the programme still has to show the information the contract asks for and represent the Contractor’s actual plans realistically.

Revised Programmes Under Clauses 32.1 and 32.2

The revision clauses explain how the programme is kept current after the first submission. NEC4 clauses 32.1 and 32.2 require each revised programme to show actual progress on each operation and its effect on the remaining work, how the Contractor plans to deal with delays and correct notified Defects, and other proposed changes. Revised programmes are submitted when instructed, when the Contractor chooses, and in any case at no longer interval than the Contract Data states.

If the Contract Data sets the interval, the update cycle is not optional. A stale Accepted Programme makes later progress, delay and compensation-event conversations harder because the parties are arguing from a record that no longer describes the job accurately.

For a broader comparison of how NEC4, FIDIC, JCT and the US forms treat the programme, use the contract programme requirements hub. For the FIDIC equivalent, see the separate guide to FIDIC Sub-Clause 8.3.

Did the NEC4 Amendment Packages Change Clause 31.2?

The short answer for the ECC is no. The January 2019, October 2020 and January 2023 NEC4 amendment packages did not change ECC clauses 31, 32 or 50.5. That is the point to hold on to before searching the amendment PDFs for a clause number.

The January 2019 ECC amendments changed several clauses and secondary options, including clause 63.5. They did not change ECC clauses 31 or 32, and they did not change ECC clause 50.5. The presence of an amendment to clause 50.9 in the same package doesn’t make it an amendment to the programme-retention clause.

The October 2020 ECC amendments changed X7, X10, X22 and Y(UK)1. The trap is that the October 2020 document also contains a row that starts with “31.2”, but that row is not in the ECC table. It sits under the Term Service Subcontract table. NEC clause numbers repeat across the suite, so a whole-document search can take you to the wrong contract.

The January 2023 ECC amendments added and changed climate-change and dispute-resolution material, including X29 and W2.3, plus cost component and Contract Data changes. They did not change ECC clauses 31, 32 or 50.5.

The safe method is simple: read the amendment row under its contract heading. If you search the whole NEC4 suite amendment file for a clause number, you can find a true row attached to the wrong contract.

Why the 2019 Clause 63.5 Change Raises the Stakes

Although the January 2019 package left clauses 31 and 32 alone, it changed clause 63.5 in a way that makes the Accepted Programme more important. The amended assessment takes into account delay caused by the compensation event already in the Accepted Programme, and events that happened between the date of the Accepted Programme and the dividing date.

In plain English, a stale Accepted Programme can now sit inside the assessment machinery. If the Accepted Programme is out of date, the parties still have to work through what it contains, what has happened since, and how that affects the compensation event. That doesn’t make clause 31.2 new, but it makes compliance with the programme process more valuable.

Don’t treat programme acceptance as an admin formality. If the Accepted Programme becomes the reference point for money and time, the programme should carry the information the contract requires and be updated at the intervals the Contract Data requires.

The 50.5 Retention Point, Kept in Its Place

NEC4 clause 50.5 says that, if no programme is identified in the Contract Data, one quarter of the Price for Work Done to Date is retained until the Contractor has submitted a first programme showing the information the contract requires. NEC3 has the same mechanism at clause 50.3.

Two limits matter. First, this is about the absence of a compliant first programme, not a free-standing penalty for every late update. Second, the retained amount is tied to a programme showing the required information, which sends the reader back to the clause 31.2 list. The programme content requirement and the payment mechanism are connected, but the payment point shouldn’t replace the content review.

What to Check Before Submitting an NEC Programme

Before submitting, a contractor or reviewer can turn the clause list into a simple internal check:

• Are the starting date, access dates, Key Dates, Completion Date and planned Completion visible?
• Does the sequence show both the Contractor’s operations and the work of the Client and Others?
• Are the dates for Conditions for Key Dates and work needed by Others clear?
• Are float, time risk allowances, health and safety requirements and contract procedures represented?
• Are the dates needed for access, acceptances, Plant and Materials, Client items and information from Others visible?
• Does each operation explain how the work will be done, including principal Equipment and other resources?
• Does the programme include the other information the Scope requires?
• If the Scope states a form, does the submission follow it?

If you need to inspect a programme file before that review, the free programme viewer opens a P6, Microsoft Project or Asta file in the browser, with a Gantt grouped by WBS, the logic links, the critical path as the file records it, and a searchable activity table.

A reviewer should then separate contract compliance from schedule quality. Clause 31.2 tells you what the programme must show. It doesn’t, by itself, tell you whether the logic is sound, whether float is being suppressed, or whether constraints are disguising delay. For that next layer, start with construction schedule analysis, then use a normal programme-review workflow such as the one in how to review a contractor programme, and pay particular attention to total float and free float when the update appears to preserve the completion date.

Bottom Line

NEC4 clause 31.2 is a detailed content list. NEC3 carries substantially the same list, while NEC4 adds the Scope-form sentence and, in clause 31.3, a deemed-acceptance route after notice and further silence.

The amendment history is the part most likely to trip up a quick review. The ECC programme clauses survived the January 2019, October 2020 and January 2023 amendment packages unchanged. The October 2020 “31.2” hit belongs to another NEC contract. The January 2019 change that does matter is nearby, in clause 63.5, because it makes the Accepted Programme more central to compensation-event assessment.

Check the programme against the clause 31.2 list, keep the Accepted Programme current, and read every amendment row under the correct contract heading before treating it as an ECC change.