The construction sector has taken the first formal steps towards a comprehensive review of the standard contract, NZS 3910:2013 Conditions of Contract for Building and Civil Engineering Construction (NZS 3910) which is the underlying model contract for at least 75 per cent of non-residential construction contracts in New Zealand.

With strong support from CCNZ the NZ Construction Industry Council (NZCIC) has taken the lead commissioning Standards New Zealand to run a scoping process for the review of NZS 3910. Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Peter Silcock is the NZCIC lead on this project.

Mr Silcock says the next key step is the development of a Draft Scoping Document that will be open to sector wide consultation. All NZCIC members will be included in this consultation.

"It is important we take the time to develop a clearly defined scope. This is a big and important project whichever way you look at it, so the substantive review will only commence once we have the scope well defined. At this stage we are targeting March 2020 to get that underway.”

The first step in the process was a day long workshop held on 23 November which was attended by more than 25 people representing clients (including central and local government and property developers), contractors (including head contractors and specialist trades), consultants (including engineers, architects, quantity surveyors) and government agencies (including MBIE and the NZ Infrastructure Commission).

The scoping workshop gathered important information to inform and direct the review. The key outcomes were

• The need for a wide ranging rather than restricted scope review
• The need for more regular reviews to ensure the standard is kept up to date
• The identification of key themes that will drive the review
• A section by section review identifying areas for major change
• The need to have a user friendly “smart contract” format

Funding for the scoping project from NZCIC, Kainga Ora, Ministry of Education, KiwiRail, MBIE, Infrastructure Commission and Waka Kotahi NZTA.  For further information, email CCNZ Chief Executive Peter Silcock.