Introducing the new NEC4 Facilities Management Contract (FMC) with exclusive member discounts

News

After three years of consultations with our members and substantial expert input from volunteer members of our NEC Steering Group, the NEC4 Facilities Management Contract (FMC) has been launched, with exclusive discounts for IWFM members. 

For some time, the profession has called for an FM-specific procurement tool that meets our sector’s diverse needs as an alternative to standard contracts based on construction practices or bespoke, one-off arrangements. 

In 2016, IWFM’s Special Interest Groups began work on developing best practice in this area and articulating the rationale and benefits of an FM-standard contract. The collapse of Carillion in 2018 highlighted problems embedded in procurement and contract management processes and intensified the appetite for such a contract: one which emphasises collaborative working and provides the tools to achieve better outcomes. 

Building on our existing relationship, IWFM (then BIFM) and NEC agreed in 2018 to develop contracting and procurement products and services to support the facilities management sector, using the NEC4 contract suite. 

IWFM Chief Executive Linda Hausmanis, who addressed last week’s NEC Users’ Group Online Conference to launch the FMC, said: 

‘The NEC4 FMC suite is rooted in collaboration and ‘bakes in’ a number of principles for best practice in procurement, which is fundamentally important to our profession’s advancement. It is a key tool for embedding best practice that can help our profession to thrive and grow. 

‘Our special thanks go to our expert Steering Group, members of which were drawn from IWFM’s Procurement and International SIGs, as they played an instrumental role in its development. 

‘As we all now look to build back better post-pandemic, this contract could not have arrived at a better time.’ 

How will the FMC help our profession? 

The key benefits of the FMC are: 

• it is specifically developed for the FM sector, so there is better alignment with FM priorities including market recognised phrases and definitions 

• it will help streamline processes, reduce the potential for problems and promote best practice in the procurement of FM services 

• it offers flexibility to support a variety of FM approaches in procurement and delivery strategies 

• it supports the building of trust and collaboration which is vital to a well-functioning FM industry. 

Discounts for IWFM members 

IWFM members can enjoy exclusive discounts of 15% off the cost of the NEC4 FMC and 10% off the NEC4 Introduction to FM one day training course (a complimentary copy of the contract is included with the public course; different arrangements apply for in-house delivery). To claim your discount code, simply email our Member and Customer Engagement team at [email protected] or call them on 01279 712 650. 

FMC launch webinar  

On 23 June we held a well-attended webinar to support the launch of the FMC. Our expert panel discussed and took questions on the contract suite: why it was needed, who developed it, what’s new and how workplace and facilities professionals can use it. You can view the webinar by clicking here. 

We are compiling a full list of the webinar Q&As, including those that we did not have time to address during the broadcast, and will post them in due course on our Procurement content web hub.