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Through the partnership, Consult Australia’s members and their over 30,000 employees will have access to a library of NEC contracts and training.

Workers in Australia collaborate on an infrastructure project. Photo: NEC

New Engineering Contracts, known as NEC Contracts, are a formalised system of contracts first created by the UK-based Institution of Civil Engineers which aim to stimulate good project management and collaboration.

NEC said the partnership provides an opportunity to reposition contracts in the Australian market, shifting from the legal profession to a tool for consultants helping to drive better project outcomes.

In 2021, Consult Australia and NEC jointly drafted new Y Clauses into the NEC Contracts aimed at enabling country-specific legislation to be easily integrated into the standard contracts.

Global Head of NEC Contracts, Rekha Thawrani OBE said: “The NEC Contract suite was designed to empower collaboration and foster long lasting relationships, so seeing this sentiment being shared by entities like Consult Australia is a great step in the NEC journey. The upcoming tools for consultants and those looking to learn more about NEC represents our commitment to ensuring ongoing support and wider adoption of the contracts across the world.”

Consult Australia’s CEO, Jonathan Cartledge, said: “We know that procurement reform, better risk management and the delivery of standard contracting with collaboration at the core is long overdue. This partnership with NEC and Consult Australia reflects our longstanding goals to improve procurement and delivery, shift the culture of the industry, and drive better outcomes on projects.

Consult Australia members will also be able to access discounts for NEC products and training to help build knowledge and better support the broader adoption of NEC in the Australian market - cementing both entities’ shared commitment to building and improving collaborative lifecycle contract standardisation in the Australian market.