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ARTICLE · 08 JUNE 2015

Case Law On NEC3

Fenwick Elliott LLP
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Since being endorsed by the Office of Government Commerce in 2013, NEC3 has fast become the standard form of choice for construction and maintenance works in the public sector, as well as being used occasionally in the private sector for major engineering projects.

United KingdomReal Estate and Construction
Lisa Kingston
Lisa Kingston
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Since being endorsed by the Office of Government Commerce in 2013, NEC3 has fast become the standard form of choice for construction and maintenance works in the public sector, as well as being used occasionally in the private sector for major engineering projects. Despite this being so, historically at least, case law on NEC3 has been relatively scarce. Mr Justice Akenhead expressed his concern two and a half years ago about the lack of consideration by the courts of the NEC form.

But are things really that bad? The form has been before the Technology and Construction Court on several occasions over the past four years and was considered for the first time by the Court of Appeal in February 2014, so it is at long last starting to receive some judicial scrutiny. This 47th issue of Insight examines the more important of these decisions and considers the court's evolving approach to the NEC3 form.

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