New Webinar Series: NEC4 Fundamentals of Professional Services Contract (PSC)

September 9, 2020

Join us for our new Webinar Series on the Professional Services Contract, starting next Friday 18th September 2020 at 13:00 BST. Targeted at everyone currently or about to be working under a PSC contract including clients, project managers, contract managers, quantity surveyors, clients, consultants, planners, contractors and their supply chain wanting to get a better grip of this contract. These sessions will be suitable for those who are relatively new to these forms of contract as well as those who are already more experienced in the contract and looking to enhance their level of knowledge and understanding.  

What’s this training programme about?

This series of fast-paced and practical webinars introduce you to key mechanics and provisions of the NEC4 Professional Services Contract (PSC). It is used to manage services between the Client (the Client could be a Client under ECC, or Main Contractor or Subcontractor who appoints a Consultant to provide a service e.g. design services) and an organisation providing a professional service of any kind and is not necessarily limited to construction activities.

In this series of online webinars, you will gain a practical understanding of the key aspects of PSC from both Parties perspectives. We will explore the importance of administering this form of contract during the life of a project rather than “leaving it in a drawer”, as in our view being contractual should be viewed very much as being proactive rather than being considered negatively. These sessions will review the contract strategy options between the primary PSC options A, C and E as well as the choice of secondary options that are available, all of which alter the risk profile and the payment mechanisms.

The webinars will review the key contractual clauses and mechanisms throughout the contract, including the responsibilities of the Client/Consultant; flow of communication; early warnings; provisions for time and programme; payment; compensation events; risk and insurance and dispute avoidance. It considers how the contract, if administered as intended, should raise the level of understanding and transparency between the Parties involved and how the PSC contract can contribute to the effective management of a project to achieve the project objectives using a collaborative, transparent approach.

Attendees of this training programme will have a much clearer understanding of the intent of the specific contractual clauses and in practical terms begin to see how they should administer them for the benefit of all parties on a particular project.

You will learn about:

The philosophy and commonality amongst all the contracts within the suite of NEC4 contracts  
The use and appropriate contract strategy to adopt when choosing both primary (A, C or E) options and secondary (X1-X20) options  
Appreciating the use of Contract Data and the Scope and  
Consider factors involved when preparing tender documents and assessing tender submissions  
Consider common amendments that are often made in the form of “Z clauses” and their potential to alter the dynamics or risk profile of an un-amended contract  
Roles and responsibilities of key Parties  
The important PSC clauses and processes, in particular early warning, the programme, Early Warning Register (previously the Risk Register), communications and compensation events  
Understand how to apply PSC in practice and achieve satisfactory solutions to problems