Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to the project and an understanding of each party's expectations and values. This
is largely a product of two ground-breaking reports of the 1990s,
Constructing the
Team
by Sir Michael Latham in 1993, and
Rethinking Construction
by a committee
chaired by Sir John Egan in 1998. This has in turn led to a movement towards
partnering contracts. Generally speaking, partnering aims to foster a sense of
commitment to a project, to emphasize mutual goals and objectives, and to promote
equity, trust, co-operation and fair dealing. The supposed consequential benefits of
partnering include savings in time and cost, improved quality and fewer defects, and
reduced risk of disputes. It is probably fair to say that partnering was initially regarded
with some scepticism due to the arguably vague targets often included in partnering
'charters' and the somewhat aspirational wording used in these charters, which in
most cases were non-binding. However, since the introduction in September 2000
of the ACA Standard Form of Contract for Project Partnering (PPC 2000), which
was the first standard form of project partnering contract, there has been a growing
tendency for partnering concepts to be incorporated as part of the contract itself
rather than as a procedural overlay (as in the case of a partnering charter). A Scottish
supplement has been published to accompany PPC 2000 and PPC 2000 was itself
revised in 2003 and 2008, with a further amendment in 2011 to address the changes
to the 1996 Act. The key features of PPC 2000 are as follows:
•
PPC 2000 is a multi-party contract; not only do the client and the contractor enter
into the contract, but also the client's representative and any consultants appointed
by the client, and possibly certain specialists (who are sub-contractors appointed
by the contractor).
•
PPC 2000 contains various processes covering the period prior to construction on
site, and assumes the selection of the contractor on the basis of quality rather than
a lump sum price. Indeed, the parties are obliged to work together to arrive at an
agreed maximum price, rather than a lump sum price being fixed at the very outset.
•
PPC2000providesforthesupplychaintobeinalized,sofaraspossible,onanopen
book basis, encouraging partnering relationships with the specialist appointed by
the contractor. hose specialists may themselves become full members of the part-
nering team, in which case they execute a joining agreement.
•
The contractor is obliged to submit a business case to the client in respect of those
parts of the work that it wishes to undertake directly by package or by the appoint-
ment of a specialist.
•
PPC 2000 provides for a core group to be established, comprising key individ-
uals representing partnering team members, who undertake regular previews of
progress and performance and make decisions on certain matters.
Other standard form partnering contracts include:
•
TPC 2005 (published by ACA and similar to PPC 2000, but for use with term
contracts);
•
Public Sector Partnering Contract (PSPC);
•
NEC3 Secondary Option Clause X12: Partnering;
•
JCT Constructing Excellence Contract 2011 and SBCC Constructing Excellence
Contract 2006;
