The NEC4 commencement checklist: what to do before the first early warning meeting

12 November 2026

Dr Stuart Kings

NEC4 Drafter & Co-author

PhD, MRICS, MCIPS, BSc (Hons)

5 minutes read

Most avoidable disputes are seeded in the first fortnight of a contract. A short, disciplined commencement routine closes them off before they start.

Why the first two weeks decide so much

Traditional forms of contract are forgiving at the start of a project. A team can sign, mobilise and sort out the paperwork later without much consequence. NEC4 is different. It is prescriptive by design, and several obligations begin on the starting date whether the team is ready or not.

Speaking at Sypro’s October webinar on managing disputes and termination, Dr Stuart Kings, one of the nine drafters of NEC4, put it plainly: “very often in practice, disputes arise because we haven’t followed the initial procedures within the contract.” His answer is a commencement checklist that works through every clause, records who owns each action, and is ticked off jointly by the client, the Project Manager and the contractor.

The industry data supports that approach. The 2024 Construction Adjudication in the United Kingdom report from King’s College London and The Adjudication Society found that half of respondents cited inadequate contract management as a notable cause of disputes, with lack of competence among project participants cited by 42%. Both are problems a structured start can address.

1. Confirm the contract is signed

It sounds obvious, yet unsigned contracts remain common on live projects. Without a signed contract the parties drift into what Stuart described as “no man’s land”, where “it’s often the last letter written that prevails, and it all becomes vague legally.” Every other item on the checklist depends on the contract being executed, so it comes first.

2. Agree how the parties will communicate

Clause 13.1 requires every communication to be in a form that can be read, copied and recorded. Restating this at the outset removes any expectation that verbal instructions will be acted on. CECA’s NEC4 bulletin on communication flow is blunt on the point: there should be no such thing as a verbal instruction given and expected to be followed.

Clause 13.2 goes further. If the Scope specifies a communication system, a communication only has effect when it is made through that system. The team must check whether the Scope names one, confirm that every user has access from day one, and agree that formal notifications will not be sent by email.

3. Start the risk process on time

Clause 15.2 places two early actions on the Project Manager. The first Early Warning Register must be prepared within one week of the starting date, and the contractor must be instructed to attend the first early warning meeting within two weeks of that date. Later meetings follow at the early warning interval stated in the Contract Data.

These are not administrative formalities. The register is the backbone of risk management across the life of the contract, and the first meeting sets the tone for how openly risks will be raised. There is a commercial edge too. Under clause 61.5, if the contractor fails to give an early warning that an experienced contractor could have given, the related compensation event is assessed as if the warning had been given.

4. Secure bonds and guarantees early

If the secondary options require an ultimate holding company guarantee, an advance payment bond or a performance bond, they need chasing from the first day. Stuart warned that guarantees are “notoriously difficult to get signed off” inside a contractor’s organisation, and harder still on a joint venture where two or more parent companies are involved.

The consequence of delay is serious. If a required bond or guarantee is not provided, the Project Manager may notify a default. If it is still outstanding four weeks after that notification, the client may terminate the contractor’s obligation to provide the works. Nobody wants a termination certificate in month one, and a checklist item with a named owner and a date avoids it.

5. Read the Z clauses and confirm delegation

Bespoke amendments frequently change the timescales and procedures the team will use every day. A shortened reply period or an extra notice requirement buried in the Z clauses is exactly the kind of detail that produces a time barred claim later. Someone should walk the whole team through the amendments in plain language.

The Project Manager should also confirm any delegation of duties under clause 14.2, so that decisions do not stall when they are on leave or unwell.

Turn the checklist into a launch event

The tender process is necessarily arm’s length. Once the contract is awarded, the checklist works best as the agenda for a collaborative launch event. On a large scheme that might be a one or two day session; on a smaller one, a structured video call. The key is getting the right people in the room, including the finance team who will make payments.

That launch is also the moment to agree working arrangements beyond the contract: a review of each programme before it is formally submitted, a few days before it is due, and a regular fortnightly or weekly review of compensation events while volumes are high. Formal submission and formal acceptance still follow the contract. The informal agreement in between simply means fewer surprises.

Sypro’s own commencement checklist sets out each clause, the party responsible and a brief description of the action, with space to record whether it is done, outstanding or not applicable. Worked through jointly, it removes the easy disputes so that the team’s energy goes into the hard ones.