NEC4 Clause 31 (Programme Submission)

NEC4 Clause 31 governs the initial submission of the Contractor's programme. The Contractor must submit a first programme to the Project Manager either with their tender, or within the period stated in the Contract Data after the Contract Date. The clause prescribes the content of the programme: planned starting and completion dates, the order and timing of operations, the order and timing of work by the Client and Others, the dates the Contractor plans to meet Key Dates and Conditions, float, time risk allowances, health-and-safety hazards, and a statement of how the Contractor plans to do the work. A submission missing any of these elements is not compliant with Clause 31 and the Project Manager is entitled to reject it.

The Project Manager must reply within two weeks of submission, either accepting the programme or stating reasons for not accepting it. The reasons for non-acceptance are restricted to four: the plans are not practicable, it does not show the information the contract requires, it does not represent the Contractor's plans realistically, or it does not comply with the Works Information. Any non-acceptance outside these four reasons can itself be a compensation event under Clause 60.1(9). If the Project Manager fails to reply within two weeks, the Contractor may notify them — and continued failure after that notification entitles the Contractor to a compensation event for the delay.

For project controls teams, Clause 31 is the gateway test for the entire NEC4 time-management regime. A programme that scrapes through Clause 31 with weak logic, missing time risk allowances, or shallow Key Date detail will fail the moment a compensation event needs to be assessed against it. The discipline of producing a Clause 31 submission that is genuinely fit for purpose — DCMA 14-compliant, properly resource-loaded where required, with a transparent time risk allowance built into activity durations rather than hidden — pays back many times over during the contract. A weak first programme accepted by an inattentive Project Manager is a future dispute waiting to be triggered.