Why Clause 31 Programmes Get Rejected, and How to Get Acceptance First Time

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A programme that sits unaccepted is more than an admin nuisance. Under NEC4 ECC it weakens the Contractor’s position on every compensation event that follows, and if no programme is identified in the Contract Data, 1/4 of the Price for Work Done to Date is retained in assessments of the amount due until a first programme showing the required information is submitted for acceptance (clause 50.5).

Clause 31.3 gives the Project Manager 4 reasons to reject. In practice, most rejections trace back to a short list of avoidable faults.

The 4 contractual reasons

  • The Contractor’s plans shown are not practicable
  • It does not show the information the contract requires
  • It does not represent the Contractor’s plans realistically
  • It does not comply with the Scope

Any other reason is not a valid ground for non-acceptance. That matters, and it is worth checking every rejection letter against it.

6 faults behind most rejections

  1. Missing 31.2 content. Float, the order and timing of work by the Client and Others, and the dates when access, acceptances or information are needed are often absent or buried.
  2. No time risk allowance shown. Allowances hidden inside durations cannot be seen, so they cannot be accepted.
  3. Open ends and broken logic. Activities with no successor, or dates held with constraints instead of links, make the critical path unreliable.
  4. Completion Date or Key Dates out of line. A programme showing a Completion Date or Key Dates different from the Contract Data does not show the information the contract requires. Planned Completion is different: it is the Contractor’s forecast and should fall before the Completion Date.
  5. Not a method statement. 31.2 asks for a narrative, for each operation, of how the Contractor plans to do the work and the principal Equipment and other resources it will use. A P6 file without it leaves the PM guessing.
  6. Scope requirements ignored. Many Scopes set software, coding, resourcing or reporting requirements. Missing one is a clean reason to reject.

Getting acceptance first time

Check the submission against 31.2 and the Scope line by line before it goes. Run a logic and float health check. Write a short narrative that explains the method, the sequence and where the critical path runs. Then answer each PM comment in writing, activity by activity.

Keep the clock in view too. The PM has 2 weeks to accept or give reasons. If there is no reply, clause 31.3 lets the Contractor notify the failure, and a further week of silence means the programme is treated as accepted.

Stuck on a rejected programme?

VERTX rebuilds and resubmits programmes against the Clause 31 requirements, and supports the correspondence that goes with them. Book a consultation to talk it through directly with the director.

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