01 May 2024
Amendments have been made to align the NN Subcontract price variation clause with the Public Works Contract PW-CF1 to PW-CF5
The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) have published a revised suite of template contract documentation relating to the appointment by a main Contractor of a Reserved Specialist using Public Works Contract forms PW-CF1 to PW-CF5.
The amendments have been made to align the price variation clause in the NN subcontract with the amendments made to the Public Works Contract price variation clause that were made in July 2023, and are described below. The amendments made to the Public Works Contracts price variation clause in July 2023 included discontinuing the use of the Applicable Factor (Contractor) and Applicable Factor (Specialist) and the replacement of PV1 and PV2 by Clause 15 Price Variation.
Amendments to FTS-13 and PW-CF1 to PW-CF5
The OGP has amended the Form of Tender and Schedule (FTS-13) for use with the NN subcontract. Appendix 3 of the Schedule which dealt with the Applicable Factor for Specialist has been removed. An amendment has also been made to the requirements for Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII). The option to specify PII on an “each and every claim” basis has been removed and the permitted excess level has been revised. The amendments to the PII requirements are the same as those made previously for Contractor’s PII in Schedules for the Public Works Contracts.
In PW-CF1 to PW-CF5, a minor amendment has also been made to sub-clause 11.1.1(3) to clarify that where, in the payment claim notice to the Employer’s Representative, the Contractor includes payments proposed to be made to named Specialists, the proposed payment amounts must be the amounts prior to any adjustment by the Contractor for price variation of the payment to the named Specialist in accordance with the subcontract between the Contractor and the named Specialist.
A schedule of changes made to FTS-13 and PW-CF1 to PW-CF5 can be viewed here.
Amendments to the NN subcontract
The CIF have published the 4th edition of the NN subcontract, available here. The amendments include the removal of references to the Applicable Factor (Specialist) and updating sub clause 10(d) to replace references to “PV1” or “PV2” by a reference to “Clause 15” (of the main Contract).
Impact on live Competitions
Contracting Authorities and Tenderers are reminded to issue and respond to the most recent versions of tender documents in their competitions.
Public Works Contracts Competitions
For competitions for the award of a Public Work Contract PW-CF1 to PW-CF5, Contracting Authorities are reminded that it is the form of contract that is published on the OGP website on the date 10 days before the latest date for receipt of Tenders (disregarding any amendments posted on that date) that applies in the competition. Therefore, for competitions with a closing date on or after 11th May 2024 that are using any of PW-CF1 to PW-CF5, the amended forms of contract will apply. For those competitions closing on or after 11th May, it is recommended that you take steps to advise your Tenderers that an amended form of contract has been published.
Reserved Specialist Competitions
For competitions for the award of a NN subcontract, Contracting Authorities are reminded that it is the form of NN subcontract that is published on the CIF website on the date 10 days before the latest date for receipt of Tenders (disregarding any amendments posted on that date) that applies in the competition. Therefore, for Reserved Specialist competitions with a closing date on or after 11th May 2024, the amended forms of NN subcontract will apply. For such competitions closing on or after 11th May, it is recommended that you take steps to advise your Tenderers that an amended form of subcontract has been published. In relation to the amended form of FTS-13, contracting authorities may either re-issue the revised FTS-13 to Tenderers, or issue a clarification to Tenderers that Part 3 of the Schedule has been removed.
Any queries can be directed to construction@per.gov.ie