Mechanical and Electrical Service Engineers Were Nominated
Nominated sub-contractors are those who have been selected by the architect under Clause 35 of the JCT05 to supply and fix materials as part of the contract. The architect will have usually gone out to tender and obtained a quotation for the work at an earlier stage. One of the main reasons is the lead-in time for commencement of this work from receipt of order is such that if left to when the contract is awarded, it would cause delays to the construction process. Traditionally specialist sub-contractors such as lift installers and mechanical and electrical service engineers were nominated,but the practice is less common than it was. Clients may also insist upon a nomination if, for example, the work could be carried out by one of their subsidiary companies.
The contractor can make ‘reasonable objection’ to the nomination in writing usually based on previous experience of working with the subcontractor such as their quality of work, inability to keep to the programme or unwillingness to work in a team. If these can be demonstrated to be valid,the architect would be silly to ignore these comments.
There are risks in nominating because if the sub-contractor delays the project as a result of their performance on site, or if there are defects or delays in their design, the contractor can legitimately claim for an extension to the contract and would not have to pay any contractual penalties for late handover as a result. Further the contractor has no incentive to ensure the sub-contractor completes the work on time and could manipulate the situation to use the delay to cover up his own inefficiencies elsewhere on the project. In today’s current climate of co-operation, many contractors find the lack of control of both the design and productivity sometimes to be a hindrance in completing the contract on time. On the other hand the contractor not being responsible for the work can still, generally expect to receive overheads, attendance and profit applied to the prime cost sum. It is not always the case, but the risk relative to employing sub-contractors direct is lessened.
