NEC Accepted Programme
Last reviewed 9 September 20262,910 words13 min read
Why the Accepted Programme is the most powerful document a planner ever holds — and the four ways to lose it
🟩 In one line: Under NEC the Accepted Programme is a defined contractual document that fixes planned Completion, the Key Dates, the float and the time risk allowances — every compensation event is assessed against it, terminal float and TRA stay with the Contractor, and a programme that is not accepted, or is out of date, hands the assessment to the Project Manager.
👤 Who this is for: Mid-level planners on their first NEC contract; senior planners running CE quotations. Prerequisites: Float-ownership-and-contract, Fragnets, Milestones-and-key-dates.
First, let's be honest about why this page exists
Planners who come to NEC from FIDIC treat the programme the same way — a submission, a baseline, a monthly update. Under NEC that instinct costs money. The Accepted Programme is not a baseline; it is the current, accepted picture of how the Contractor intends to complete, and it is the only thing a compensation event can be measured against. Let it lapse, and the Project Manager assesses the CE on their own view of the programme. Fail to show planned Completion earlier than the Completion Date, and the terminal float you thought you owned is invisible.
This page is the mechanics: what goes in it, how it gets accepted, what a CE does to it, and the four ways planners lose it.
🟨 The standard — what "good" looks like
| Source | What it says (paraphrased) | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| NEC3 / NEC4 ECC Cl 11.2 (definitions) | Accepted Programme = the programme identified in the Contract Data or the latest programme accepted by the PM; Completion, Completion Date, Key Date, Condition, planned Completion defined (check against your copy) etc.) | Vocabulary |
| Cl 31.1 | Programme identified in Contract Data, or submitted within the period stated | Where BL0 comes from |
| Cl 31.2 | Content: starting date, access dates, Key Dates, Completion Date; planned Completion; order and timing of operations and of work by Others; dates the Contractor plans to meet each Condition; provisions for float, time risk allowances, health and safety, procedures in the contract; dates Contractor needs access, acceptances, Plant and Materials, information from the Client/Others; for each operation the statement of how the Contractor plans to do it and the Equipment and resources; other information the Scope requires (check against your copy) | The content checklist |
| Cl 31.3 | PM accepts or notifies reasons within two weeks; four reasons for non-acceptance: not practicable; does not show the information the contract requires; does not represent the Contractor's plans realistically; does not comply with the Scope. NEC4: if the PM does not respond, Contractor may notify; if still no response within a further week, the programme is treated as accepted (check against your copy) | Acceptance mechanics |
| Cl 32.1 | Revised programme shows actual progress and its effect on remaining work; effects of implemented CEs; how the Contractor plans to deal with delays and correct notified Defects; other changes | Monthly content |
| Cl 32.2 | Revised programme submitted when instructed, when the Contractor chooses, and at the interval in Contract Data | The cycle |
| NEC3 Cl 50.3 / NEC4 Cl 50.5 | One quarter of the Price for Work Done to Date retained until a first programme showing the required information is submitted (check against your copy) | Why the first programme goes in on time |
| Cl 36 | Acceleration by quotation and acceptance; Completion Date and Key Dates changed by agreement | The only route to a revised Completion Date without a CE |
| Cl 60–65 (NEC3) / 60–66 (NEC4) | Compensation events; notification 8 weeks (Cl 61.3); quotations include alterations to the Accepted Programme (Cl 62.2); PM reply within 2 weeks (Cl 62.3 — verify); assessment of delay as the length of time planned Completion is later than shown on the Accepted Programme (NEC3 Cl 63.3 / NEC4 Cl 63.5 — verify); implementation (Cl 65 / 66) | CE mechanics |
| NEC3 Cl 64.1 / NEC4 Cl 64.1–64.2 | PM assesses the CE if the Contractor has not submitted a required programme, or if there is no Accepted Programme, among other triggers (check against your copy) | The penalty for losing acceptance |
| SCL Protocol 2nd ed., Core Principles on float | Terminal float: contractor-owned under NEC because delay is measured to planned Completion (check against your copy) | Float position |
| Hub convention | Planned and contractual completion as two milestones; TRA as named activities; constraint on Completion Date milestone only; fragnet base = last Accepted Programme; Reflection + comparison per CE | Your defaults |
🟢 Rule: keep an Accepted Programme in force at every moment, show planned Completion and named TRA on it, and quote every compensation event as a change to it — because whatever is on the Accepted Programme is what the delay is measured against.
How it actually works
1. Building a programme that gets accepted. The Cl 31.2 list is a checklist; miss one item and reason two applies.
| Cl 31.2 item | In P6 |
|---|---|
| Starting date, access dates, Key Dates, Completion Date | Milestones node: start milestone (starting date); SOoA milestones for access with Contract Data reference; Key Date milestones (KEYDATE, FOoB); Completion Date milestone (CONTRACT, FOoB) |
| Planned Completion | PLANNING milestone, no constraint, FS from the last activity; Completion Date milestone linked from it through the TRA |
| Order and timing, including Others | Level 3 with INTERFACE-IN/OUT milestones for work by Others |
| Dates for each Condition | KEYDATE milestone with the Condition written in Notebook Constraint Basis and its predecessor chain defining it |
| Float | Total float visible in layout 04; terminal float = gap planned Completion → Completion Date; float statement in the SBM |
| Time risk allowances | Named "TRA — Scope" activities on the paths where the risk lies, with basis in Notebook; not hidden in durations |
| Health and safety | Activities or milestones for the H&S procedures the Scope names |
| Dates the Contractor needs access, acceptances, Plant and Materials, information | INTERFACE-IN milestones with needed-by dates — the Cl 60.1(3) event exists only if these are on the programme |
| Method statement and resources per operation | Resource-loaded; method statement reference in Notebook Logic Basis; SBM cycle table |
| Other Scope requirements | Read the Scope's programme section line by line; client specs often add DCMA checks, layouts, formats |
Submission: XER + PDFs + SBM + a cover note listing each Cl 31.2 item and where it is satisfied. That note is what the PM ticks against.
2. Acceptance. Two weeks. Diary it. If reasons come, every reason is answered in a revised submission within the week; a rejected programme is not a disaster, a lapsed one is. NEC4: if the PM is silent, the Contractor's notification starts a further week, after which the programme is treated as accepted — send the notification the day after the two weeks expire (check against your copy). NEC3 has no deemed acceptance; silence means no Accepted Programme, so chase in writing.
3. The monthly revised programme. At the Contract Data interval (usually four weeks; check), the update is submitted for acceptance as the revised programme with the Cl 32.1 content:
| Cl 32.1 item | Where |
|---|---|
| Actual progress and its effect | Statused update; forecast planned Completion |
| Effects of implemented CEs | CE fragnets incorporated under their own WBS nodes with the Change Ref code |
| How delays are dealt with; Defects corrected | Measures section; Defect-correction activities where notified |
| Other changes | Change table listing scope changes and planner edits separately |
The register then shows which Accepted Programme is in force at each date. That is the base for every CE quotation until the next acceptance.
4. Compensation events and the programme.
| Step | Clause | Planner's action |
|---|---|---|
| Notify | 61.3 — Contractor notifies within 8 weeks of becoming aware, or loses entitlement (unless PM should have notified) | Event register; draft notice inside 2 weeks |
| Quote | 62.2 — quotation comprises changes to Prices and any delay to Completion Date and Key Dates, with alterations to the Accepted Programme | Fragnet in a Reflection of the Accepted Programme in force; comparison; delay = movement of planned Completion |
| Assess delay | NEC3 63.3 / NEC4 63.5 — delay to Completion Date = length of time planned Completion is later than shown on the Accepted Programme (check against your copy) | Report the movement of the PLANNING milestone, not the float at the CONTRACT milestone |
| Reply | 62.3 — PM replies within 2 weeks (check against your copy); may accept, ask for revised quotation, or assess | Diary; revised quotation within 3 weeks if asked (check against your copy) |
| Implement | 65 / 66 — Completion Date and Key Dates changed by the accepted quotation or PM's assessment | Move the CONTRACT/KEYDATE FOoB; register row; baseline revision; the next revised programme includes it |
| Assumptions | 61.6 — PM may state assumptions for the quotation; if wrong, another CE | Assumptions listed in the fragnet's WBS Scope note |
The consequence of the 63.3 / 63.5 mechanism: because delay is measured at planned Completion, any float between planned Completion and the Completion Date (terminal float) is preserved for the Contractor — a CE that pushes planned Completion by 10 days moves the Completion Date by 10 days even if planned Completion was 20 days early. Show planned Completion on the programme or this protection does not exist.
5. Prospective, not retrospective. CE quotations are forecasts made at the time (Cl 63.1 divides actual from forecast Defined Cost at the dividing date; the delay assessment follows the same logic — verify). Once implemented, the assessment is not revisited if the forecast turns out wrong (Cl 65.2 NEC3 / 66.3 NEC4 — verify). That is why the fragnet must be right the first time, on the right base.
📜 The four ways to lose the Accepted Programme
| How | What happens | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| First programme late | One quarter of PWDD retained (Cl 50.3 / 50.5) until submitted; no base for early CEs | Submit within the Contract Data period even if imperfect; revise on reasons |
| Revised programme not submitted at the interval | Cl 64.1: PM may assess CEs on their own assessment of the programme | Same DD every period; submit every time, on time, for acceptance |
| Programme rejected and not resubmitted | The previous Accepted Programme stays in force and drifts from reality; CEs assessed against a stale picture | Answer every non-acceptance reason within a week |
| Planned Completion not shown | Delay measured at the Completion Date; terminal float consumed by CEs | Two milestones, TRA activities, always |
🟥 Where people go wrong
- One completion milestone. Planned Completion and the Completion Date collapsed together. Every CE then eats the terminal float first and the Contractor pays for early finishing twice. Two milestones from the tender programme onward.
- TRA hidden in durations. The programme "represents the Contractor's plans realistically" only if the allowances are visible; hidden TRA also makes the durations unjustifiable against the SBM. Named TRA activities.
- CE fragnet on the baseline. The quotation impacts the original Accepted Programme instead of the one in force at the event. The PM rejects it, or worse, accepts a wrong number. Reflection of the current Accepted Programme, always.
- Missing the 8 weeks. The event was obvious in March; the notification goes in June. Entitlement gone unless the PM should have notified. Event register and a two-week internal deadline.
- Waiting for the PM's reply before the next revised programme. The interval passes, no programme is submitted, Cl 64.1 bites. The revised programme goes in on time whether or not the previous one has been answered; it says which Accepted Programme it revises.
- Treating acceptance as approval of the method. Cl 31.3 acceptance does not transfer risk (Cl 14.1); a realistic but wrong plan is still the Contractor's. Acceptance protects the CE base, not the durations.
- Not reading the Scope's programme section. NEC leaves the format to the Scope, and Gulf Scopes often import a FIDIC-style specification wholesale. The Scope's list plus Cl 31.2 is the checklist.
⚖️ When you're challenged
"The PM hasn't accepted our last three programmes. Does it matter?" It matters more than anything else we do this month. Every CE quotation is measured against the last Accepted Programme, which is now four months old and doesn't show the re-sequenced podium. Under 64.1 the PM can assess CEs himself while we have no current acceptance. Each rejection reason gets answered this week and the revised programme goes in with the cover note.
"Why is the CE quotation 12 days when the Completion Date still has 15 days of float?" Because 63.3 measures delay at planned Completion, not at the Completion Date. The fragnet moves planned Completion 12 days; the 15 days between planned Completion and the Completion Date is terminal float, and under NEC it stays with us. The Completion Date moves 12 days.
"Just show the Completion Date as planned Completion; it's simpler." Simpler and it gives away the terminal float. Every CE would then be absorbed into the 15 days before it moved the Completion Date. The two milestones and the TRA between them are on the Accepted Programme for that reason.
"The PM says the programme isn't practicable because of the summer manpower peak." That's reason one under 31.3 and it's a fair challenge — the histogram peaks at 1,900 in July against 1,750 beds. I've levelled it by SOFT-RES sequencing in a Reflection, peak 1,720, planned Completion unchanged, comparison attached. Resubmission goes in tomorrow.
📄 Related pages
- Float ownership and the contract — terminal float and TRA under NEC vs FIDIC
- Fragnets — building FR-031 on the right base
- Milestones and Key Dates — Key Dates, Conditions, planned vs contractual completion
- Change Control in a Live Schedule — the 11 steps applied to CEs
- Revised Baseline vs Recovery Schedule — what an implemented CE does to the register
- FIDIC Time Clauses — the contrast form
- Notice Requirements and Records — the 8-week clock
- Tender Programme — identifying the tender programme in Contract Data only if built to Cl 31.2
✏️ Worked example — Riyadh hospital (NEC4 ECC Option A), CE-031 quotation
Accepted Programme in force: Revised Programme 11, accepted 03-Jun (DD 25-May). Completion Date 30-Sep (Y3); planned Completion on RP11 = 08-Sep (Y3); terminal float 16 working days; TRA-MEP 10 d and TRA-T&C 8 d as named activities. Key Date 2 (imaging suite handover Condition) 15-Mar (Y3), planned 06-Mar.
Event: PM's instruction changing the imaging suite shielding specification, 12-Jun; notified as CE-031 on 19-Jun (within 8 weeks).
Fragnet FR-031 (own WBS node, in "CE-031 — Reflection of RP11 DD 25-May"):
| ID | Activity | Dur (d) | Logic |
|---|---|---|---|
| CE031-010 | Revised shielding design & approval | 15 | FS from instruction milestone (actual 12-Jun) |
| CE031-020 | Procure lead-lined panels (revised spec) | 30 | FS 010 |
| CE031-030 | Remove installed panels, imaging rooms 1–3 | 6 | FS 020; SS+2 with existing ARC-L3-RAD-040 |
| CE031-040 | Install revised panels | 12 | FS 030; FS out to existing ARC-L3-RAD-050 |
Comparison (Reflection vs RP11):
| Milestone | RP11 | Impacted | Movement (wd) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key Date 2 — planned Condition date | 06-Mar | 21-Mar | +11 |
| Key Date 2 — Key Date | 15-Mar | — | Quoted +11 → 30-Mar |
| Planned Completion | 08-Sep | 17-Sep | +7 |
| Completion Date | 30-Sep | — | Quoted +7 → 09-Oct |
Terminal float of 16 days is untouched — delay is measured at planned Completion. TRA-MEP is not consumed by the CE (the fragnet is on the radiology chain, which does not pass through it); that is stated in the quotation so the PM cannot argue the TRA should absorb it.
Quotation content: changed Prices per Activity Schedule; delay to Completion Date 7 wd; delay to Key Date 2 11 wd; alterations to the Accepted Programme as the attached XER and comparison; assumptions: panel lead time 30 wd per quotation Q-118 (Cl 61.6 assumption requested). PM reply due 2 weeks from submission (Cl 62.3 — verify). On acceptance: KEYDATE and CONTRACT milestones moved, BL revision raised, RP12 incorporates the fragnet under WBS node CE-031 with Change Ref code.
📖 References
- NEC3 ECC (2005, amended 2013): Cl 11.2, 14.1, 31.1–31.3, 32.1–32.2, 36, 50.3, 60.1, 61.3, 61.6, 62.2–62.4, 63.1, 63.3, 64.1, 65 (check the edition in your contract)
- NEC4 ECC (2017, amendments to 2023): Cl 11.2, 14.1, 31.1–31.3, 32.1–32.2, 36, 50.5, 60.1, 61.3, 61.6, 62.2–62.4, 63.1, 63.5, 64.1–64.2, 66 (check the edition in your contract)
- SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol, 2nd ed. (2017), Core Principles on float and on programme (check against your copy)
- AACE International RP 38R-06, Documenting the Schedule Basis
- Oracle Primavera P6 Professional User Guide — Reflections; Schedule Comparison; Constraints (check against your P6 version)
General guidance, not legal advice. Contract wording, editions and amendments differ on every project. Read your own contract and take professional advice before relying on anything here in a claim or a dispute.
From the field
Experience from working planners. Unreviewed — read it as experience, not guidance.
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