NEC joins forces with BIFM to introduce FM industry first

In response to industry demands, NEC has launched a suite of documents in partnership with the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) exclusively for the facilities management (FM) industry.

Following an audit of the challenges facing contract managers within the FM sector it became apparent there was an absence of a standard form of contract within the industry. Prior to the introduction of the NEC for FM contract, there was no best practice and common contract used within the industry when procuring and managing FM services. Furthermore there was no real collaborative approach to procurement, transparency was cited as a common issue and BIFM wanted to endorse a contract for its members. The NEC for FM contract has been developed to assist FM users when using NEC3 contracts to deliver them as efficiently as possible.

Rekha Thawrani, General Manager for NEC, comments: “NEC approached BIFM two years ago in order to better understand how an industry-specific form of contract could be developed. BIFM already had the Good Practice Guide to FM Procurement and this, coupled with the NEC3 approach, resulted in a review where NEC received endorsement of the Term Service Contract in April 2013.

“As a result of this new partnership, NEC and BIFM signed a memorandum of understanding to work together. The NEC for FM suite has been recognised and endorsed by the FM Category Board of the Cabinet Office UK, as well as the Crown Commercial Service, who provide centralised commercial and procurement services for Government and the UK public sector.

“We’re pleased to officially launch the NEC for FM suite of documents in partnership with the British Institute of Facilities Management and trust this will be the establishment of a long relationship.”
The key contents within the NEC for FM box set include:

• BIFM Good Practice Guide toFM Procurement
• How to use NEC3 contracts in facilities management
• NEC3 Term Service Contract
• NEC3 Term Service Short Contract

Chris Moriarty, Head of Insight and Corporate Affairs, BIFM said: “BIFM have been pleased with our collaboration with NEC on the FM contracts over the past year and were delighted to work with them to develop the new FM suite. Our Good Practice Guide to Procurement has been completely updated and is included in the box set making this new suite of documents indispensable to FMs using contracts as part of their on-going role.
The suite offers standards terms and conditions for use across FM for the benefit of our members.”

For further information on NEC visit www.neccontract.com