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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I turn PPC2000 into a Strategic Partnering Contract?
Getting a large number of bodies to sign the documentation
can prove very time-consuming. How should this best be overcome?
Can you use PPC2000 only for the construction phase of
a Project?
Why have a Partnering Timetable?
Is a Pre-Possession Agreement always necessary?
Who should be Client Representative?
Who should be Partnering Adviser?
How can PPC2000 help to achieve supply chain integration?
How many times has PPC2000 been tested in adjudication,
arbitration or litigation?
How do I turn PPC2000 into
a Strategic Partnering Contract?
PPC2000 is designed as a Partnering Contract for a single Project.
It is possible to use it for a programme of similar works by treating
each part of the programme as a “Section”, but only if Special
Terms can be agreed that clarify the means by which the preconstruction
phase of each Section will be triggered.
Frequently, it is simpler to create a separate bespoke Strategic Partnering Agreement overlaying a series of PPC2000 Contracts.
Getting a large number
of bodies to sign the documentation can prove very time-consuming. How
should this best be overcome?
PPC2000 has the benefit of being one integrated multi-party contract in
place of numerous two-party contracts, but this can create difficulties
when it comes to arrangements for signature.
If there is no time or occasion for a single signing ceremony (and this can be a motivating event in itself ), then one approach is to agree by exchange of e-mails or faxes a date when all Partnering Documents are “frozen”, and then to arrange circulation of the Partnering Documents for signature by each Partnering Team member in turn.
Can you use PPC2000 only
for the construction phase of a Project?
This is possible if all designs, prices and other preparatory activities
have been sufficiently advanced. However, to leave PPC2000 unsigned until
this stage misses a major opportunity for collaborative working during
the pre-construction phase when there is the most to gain.
Why have a Partnering Timetable?
This clarifies individual and collective activities throughout the pre-construction
phase, defining deadlines and recognising obstacles to be overcome. Without
a Partnering Timetable, it is very difficult to integrate pre-construction
phase processes so as to ensure that the team works effectively and does
not lose valuable time.
Is a Pre-Possession Agreement
always necessary?
A Pre-Possession Agreement is a document to govern any early works on
or off site ahead of full authorisation of the construction phase under
the Commencement Agreement. If all preconstruction phase activities are
foreseen and timetabled when the Project Partnering Agreement is originally
signed up, then there would be no need to use a Pre-Possession Agreement
and the next stage would be signature of a Commencement Agreement.
Who should be Client Representative?
The Client Representative, whether an officer of the Client or an independent
Consultant, is essentially a project manager. The Client Representative
should have the skills of a project manager, able to fulfil its functions
as described in PPC2000 “exercising any discretion fairly and constructively”.
Who should be Partnering
Adviser?
The Partnering Adviser is an independent individual outside the Partnering
Team, offering guidance and support in activities such as concluding the
Partnering Documents and supporting the partnering relationships and processes.
It is a role recommended by the Construction Industry Council, distinct
from the Client Representative and an important source of objective advice
to ensure that PPC2000 achieves its intended purposes.
How can PPC2000 help to
achieve supply chain integration?
Specialists (i.e. sub-contractors, sub-consultants and suppliers) can
be Partnering Team members when PPC2000 is first signed if their roles
and responsibilities are fully agreed. If selected later, whether on the
basis of a Business Case put forward by the Constructor or a competitive
tender, they can sign Joining Agreements in order to acquire full Partnering
Team membership.
Even if Specialists are not Partnering Team members, the Constructor should engage them wherever possible under the SPC2000 Specialist Partnering Contract. This is “back to back” with PPC2000 and includes, for example, Specialist involvement in preconstruction phase design development and risk management
How many times has PPC2000
been tested in adjudication, arbitration or litigation?
It is a measure of PPC2000’s success that it is not yet the subject
of any reported court case and that User Group members report the successful
resolution of several differences and disputes through the Core Group.
To quote Sir Michael Latham:-
“Some academic lawyers will say of PPC2000, as they also said
of the NEC, that it should not be used because it has not been tested
in the courts. The absence of courts is a plus, in my view. If you want
a document that is regularly tested in the courts, you can use JCT 80”
(Building, 10 May 2002).