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Capital Project Assurance
How the assurance runs, from the first look to the project record
Fourteen stages: three free ways in, the baseline set at award, a six-step cycle every month with its sealed line in the sand, the events that interrupt it, the schedule visual alongside and the record at close-out. Open any stage to see how it runs, which modules do the work and what they produced on a specimen project.
Choose your form: the tour and every stage then show its clocks.
The flow
One project, start to finish
Every stage opens. The cycle in the middle repeats each reporting period until the work is complete.
What silence means under NEC4 ECC
Silence accepts the programme. After 2 weeks without a reply, and a further week after the Contractor's notice, it is treated as accepted (cl 31.3).
Before you engage
M0.1M0.2M0.3Free first lookThree free ways inFreeSeparate service
PMO set-upIf there is no PMO yetEvery month
repeats each period until completion
When something happens
M11Re-baselineA governed event, not an updateM14Claim for timeEight tests in five working daysM16What if?Delay scenarios, on requestOn requestAlongside the cycle
M15Schedule VisualThe programme, drawn to be readthe order things happenthe month closes; the next period starts with a new packseparate, alongsidethe sealed record a later claim answers to
Stage by stage
What each stage does
The same fourteen stages in full. Each one opens here, in place.
Before you engage
Free first look
Three free instruments, chosen by where the project is. Nothing is stored, nothing is sent back, and a project with no material weakness is told so.
How it runs
- Pick the instrument for where the project is: in delivery (M0.1), at approval or award (M0.2), or one programme file (M0.3).
- Answer twenty questions about what is, not how it feels, or send the native file.
- Receive an index out of 100, the three weakest areas and a ten-day action for each.
- For M0.3, receive a written reading of what the file reproduces and what it cannot be relied on for.
- Decide whether a fixed-scope review is worth buying. Never the retainer first.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The index and its band, with all eight domain scores
- The three weakest domains, each with a ten-day action
- For M0.3: the reproduction figure, the integrity findings and whether the dates are real
Modules
M0.1 Distress Diagnostic
For a project in delivery: a 0–100 distress index and the three findings that matter most
Free, before engagement
M0.2 Readiness Check
For a project at award: exposure index and the three gaps to close before the baseline is accepted
Free, before engagement
M0.3 Schedule Review
One native programme file, read independently: whether it reproduces, and what it supports
Free, by email
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
First programme due cl 31.1period stated in Contract Data (Part one)
From the Contract Date. Contractor submits a first programme to the PM for acceptance, unless a programme is identified in the Contract Data.
Review window for the programme cl 31.32 weeks
After submission. PM accepts the programme or notifies non-acceptance with reasons.
The first programme’s clock starts at award, so M0.2 does most good before it. NEC4 ECC cl. 31.3 starts the acceptance clock when the first programme is submitted.
Award and mobilisation
Set the baseline
Two things decide whether a project can be assured at all: the data the project will send, and whether the baseline is a working model of the work.
How it runs
- Kick-off: the pack, its templates and the consequence of a late or inaccurate submission are agreed and acknowledged in writing.
- M1 sets the protocol: what arrives each period, in which format, and how it is checked.
- M2 runs twenty-seven tests on the baseline programme, each with its measured value and threshold.
- Each condition of acceptance is tied to the contract’s ground for not accepting a programme.
- The recommendation is issued before the acceptance window closes, with the closing date on the cover.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The protocol document and the templates your modules need
- The accept-or-reject recommendation, with the score behind it
- Conditions of acceptance, Must and Should, each tied to the contract’s ground
Modules
M1 Data Exchange Protocol
Set up at mobilisation, then every pack logged, hashed and checked; anything incomplete is returned with a receipt
Every period, on submission
M2 Baseline Assurance Review
27 tests, each condition tied to the contract’s ground — inside the acceptance window
Once, at award
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
First programme due cl 31.1period stated in Contract Data (Part one)
From the Contract Date. Contractor submits a first programme to the PM for acceptance, unless a programme is identified in the Contract Data.
Review window for the programme cl 31.32 weeks
After submission. PM accepts the programme or notifies non-acceptance with reasons.
If nobody replies to the programme cl 31.31 week
After Contractor's notice of PM failure to reply. If PM does not reply in time, Contractor may notify the PM of that failure; if PM still does not reply within a further week the programme is treated as accepted.
Each condition of acceptance is tied to the ground your contract gives for not accepting a programme. NEC4 ECC cl. 31.3: two weeks to accept the programme or give one of four reasons.
Every month · 1 of 6
Receive
The month cannot start on data that is wrong. The pack is checked before anything is built on it.
How it runs
- The pack arrives: programme, progress return, cost and risk data, contract events log.
- Each file is logged with its hash, so every later figure traces to a file and a date.
- Each template is checked by content, not by name.
- Anything that fails is returned the same day, naming every item to correct and where it is.
- A complete pack is accepted, and the period goes into processing.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- An acceptance receipt naming every item, its file name and its hash
- Or a return receipt naming every item to correct, and exactly where in the file it is
- The effect on your issue date if a correction is late
Modules
M1 Data Exchange Protocol
Set up at mobilisation, then every pack logged, hashed and checked; anything incomplete is returned with a receipt
Every period, on submission
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Revised programme interval cl 32.2interval stated in Contract Data (commonly 4 weeks)
From starting date. Revised programme submitted for acceptance at no longer intervals than stated in the Contract Data, from starting date until Completion of the whole of the works.
Progress report cl 20.4 (Options C, D, E, F)interval in Contract Data
From starting date until Completion. Contractor prepares forecasts of total Defined Cost for the whole of the works in consultation with the PM, with explanation of changes since previous forecast.
The revised programme arrives at the interval your contract sets; the protocol fixes the rest of the pack. NEC4 ECC cl. 32.2: the interval is set in the Contract Data.
Every month · 2 of 6
Test
Five tests run on the same pack, each from the source rather than from what the project reports.
How it runs
- M3 compares this month’s programme with last month’s, activity by activity: what moved, and how slippage was absorbed.
- M4 tests claimed progress against evidence, on an unannounced sample of ten drawn after the pack arrives.
- M5 derives the contract date from implemented events, and sets out what is pending and what the contract administrator owes.
- M6 checks the cost feed and the risk register before M7 uses them.
- M12 rebuilds and recalculates the network, ties each finding to the contract’s ground and issues inside the acceptance window.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The comparison and verification workbooks, with every figure traced
- The signed contract position and the weekly clock register
- The Independent Schedule Assessment and its register
Modules
M3 Schedule Comparison
What moved, activity by activity, and how slippage was absorbed
Every period
M4 Progress Verification
Claimed progress tested against evidence by an unannounced sample
Every period
M5 Contract Events
The contract date derived, never typed — and the clock register, weekly
Every period, and weekly
M6 Cost and Risk Data
The cost feed and risk register checked before they are used
Every period
M12 Independent Schedule Assessment
The network rebuilt and tested every month, issued inside the acceptance window
Every period, for monthly clients
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Review window for the programme cl 31.32 weeks
After submission. PM accepts the programme or notifies non-acceptance with reasons.
If nobody replies to the programme cl 31.31 week
After Contractor's notice of PM failure to reply. If PM does not reply in time, Contractor may notify the PM of that failure; if PM still does not reply within a further week the programme is treated as accepted.
Response to a claim cl 61.4 / 62.3 / 64.31 week / 2 weeks / 3 weeks
After notification / after quotation / after need for PM assessment arises. PM replies to Contractor's CE notification within 1 week; replies to quotation within 2 weeks (accept / instruct revised quotation / will make own assessment); PM's own assessment due within the period allowed for the Contractor's quotation.
The clock register follows the response periods in your form. NEC4 ECC cl. 31.3 for the programme findings; cl. 64.4 where an assessment is overdue.
Every month · 3 of 6
Quantify
A reported date says nothing about its own confidence. The analysis puts a probability on it, twice.
How it runs
- The network, the cost data and the risk register are joined into one model.
- The model runs 10,000 iterations, correlated by class of work.
- The contractual run excludes pending events; the realistic run includes them.
- The result: P50 and P80 for completion and outturn, and the chance of the current contract date.
- The drivers are ranked: which activities and risks move the date most.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- P50 and P80 completion and outturn, both runs side by side
- The chance of the contract date and of the date the project reports
- The contingency the P80 needs, in time and money
Modules
M7 Quantitative Risk Analysis
Schedule, cost and risk as one Monte Carlo: P50 and P80
Every period
Contract-neutral. The contractual run follows the contract date as derived in M5.
Every month · 4 of 6
Act
A recovery plan is only worth what it delivers. The register measures that every month.
How it runs
- Every action carries the module output it came from.
- Each has an owner, a date and expected activity-days, not a completion change.
- Each month: days expected from actions now due, against days achieved.
- The cost per day recovered is calculated from committed spend.
- Decisions required are linked live to the register.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The Acceleration Action Register: eight sheets, with a live dashboard
- A decisions log, with space for the decision taken
- The savings summary and the conversion rate
Modules
M8 Acceleration Action Tracker
Is the recovery plan paying? Days expected against days achieved
Every period
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Notice of a delay event cl 61.38 weeks
After becoming aware of the event. Contractor notifies a compensation event which the PM has not notified.
Contract-neutral. Acceleration that needs an instruction is flagged for the contract administrator.
Every month · 5 of 6
Line in the sand
Everybody’s recollection improves in their own favour. Each month’s sealed entry protects the client: a dated record of the position that nobody can rewrite later.
How it runs
- The period’s entry sets the reported position, the contract position and the independent analysis side by side, with the gap computed.
- The contract position is stated in full: original and current completion, the implemented events and what is still pending.
- Three or four falsifiable predictions are written, each with a resolution date and a confidence.
- The entry is hashed and locked before the outcome is known. Any later change to the text shows.
- When a claim arrives, the sealed entries show what was known, and when. Later months score every prediction, right or wrong.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The period’s entry, with its hash and lock time: the month’s line in the sand
- The contract position as it stood that month, on the record
- Every prior prediction scored, including those called wrong
Modules
M9 Forecast Record
The month’s line in the sand: the position sealed before the outcome is known, then scored
Every period
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Notice of a delay event cl 61.38 weeks
After becoming aware of the event. Contractor notifies a compensation event which the PM has not notified.
If the notice is late cl 61.38 weeks
Condition precedent style time bar. Exceptions: events arising from the PM/Supervisor giving an instruction or notification, issuing a certificate or changing an earlier decision.
Contract-neutral. The sealed entries record which programme and which position stood at each date. Not legal advice. Under NEC4 a claimed delay is assessed on the Accepted Programme current at the dividing date (cl. 63.5).
Every month · 6 of 6
Report
The document the board reads: an impartial view, accurate to the information the client gives us. Every figure comes from the modules before it, never retyped.
How it runs
- The First View: one page with the position and where each reader should start.
- The position, reported against assessed, and what changed this month.
- Analysis, recovery and findings, each finding with its numbered evidence.
- Decisions required, each with what follows if it is not taken.
- Issued as it stands, signed. The client may draw on it for their own reporting; the issued report is not altered to suit. The next period begins with a new pack.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The signed M10 Assurance Report, Word and PDF
- Its First View: one page with the position, ready for the board pack
- Every figure traced to the information supplied, so it can be checked
Modules
M10 Assurance Report
The monthly report, in board reading order, with the decisions required
Every period
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Response to a claim cl 61.4 / 62.3 / 64.31 week / 2 weeks / 3 weeks
After notification / after quotation / after need for PM assessment arises. PM replies to Contractor's CE notification within 1 week; replies to quotation within 2 weeks (accept / instruct revised quotation / will make own assessment); PM's own assessment due within the period allowed for the Contractor's quotation.
If nobody responds to a claim cl 61.4 / 62.6 / 64.42 weeks
After Contractor's notice of failure. Deemed acceptance in each case only after Contractor serves a notice of PM failure: notification treated as accepted, quotation treated as accepted, Contractor's quotation treated as accepted in place of missing PM assessment.
Contract-neutral. The report states what the contract administrator owes and by when, from M5.
When something happens
Re-baseline
A new baseline is a governance event with its own acceptance decision. Nothing is overwritten.
How it runs
- The baseline review is run again on the proposed programme: the same twenty-seven tests.
- The bridge sets the outgoing baseline against the proposed one, activity by activity.
- The movement is split: accounted for by an implemented instrument, claimed but not implemented, or accounted for by nothing.
- The unexplained remainder is rejected, or carried as a recorded reservation.
- The original baseline stays on the record, versioned.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The re-baseline review and the bridge register
- The movement split by instrument, in the contract’s own days
- The acceptance recommendation
Modules
M11 Re-baseline Review
A governance event with its own acceptance decision — never a relabelled update
An event, when proposed
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Review window for the programme cl 31.32 weeks
After submission. PM accepts the programme or notifies non-acceptance with reasons.
If nobody replies to the programme cl 31.31 week
After Contractor's notice of PM failure to reply. If PM does not reply in time, Contractor may notify the PM of that failure; if PM still does not reply within a further week the programme is treated as accepted.
Revised programme interval cl 32.2interval stated in Contract Data (commonly 4 weeks)
From starting date. Revised programme submitted for acceptance at no longer intervals than stated in the Contract Data, from starting date until Completion of the whole of the works.
Where the form has no separate re-baseline mechanism, the revised programme is accepted like any other. NEC4 has no separate re-baseline mechanism: the revised programme is accepted under cl. 31.3 like any other.
When something happens
Claim for time
What the programme and the records support, set out for the contract administrator, who decides. The entries sealed each month are part of that record.
How it runs
- The claim pack is checked as complete; the five working days start.
- Seven tests set each fact beside its source: notice timing, early warning, concurrency and the record.
- Test 8 inserts the claimed delay into the programme in force and recalculates it.
- Each fact is marked: in evidence, for attention, or not in the record.
- The contract administrator decides. No opinion on entitlement, and not legal advice.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The EOT claim assessment, opening on its First View
- Test 8: completion before and after, in the contract’s own days
- The claim evidence register, every fact filterable
Modules
M14 EOT Claim Assessment
A contractor’s claim tested against the record in eight tests, within five working days
An event, when a claim arrives
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Notice of a delay event cl 61.38 weeks
After becoming aware of the event. Contractor notifies a compensation event which the PM has not notified.
If the notice is late cl 61.38 weeks
Condition precedent style time bar. Exceptions: events arising from the PM/Supervisor giving an instruction or notification, issuing a certificate or changing an earlier decision.
Response to a claim cl 61.4 / 62.3 / 64.31 week / 2 weeks / 3 weeks
After notification / after quotation / after need for PM assessment arises. PM replies to Contractor's CE notification within 1 week; replies to quotation within 2 weeks (accept / instruct revised quotation / will make own assessment); PM's own assessment due within the period allowed for the Contractor's quotation.
If nobody responds to a claim cl 61.4 / 62.6 / 64.42 weeks
After Contractor's notice of failure. Deemed acceptance in each case only after Contractor serves a notice of PM failure: notification treated as accepted, quotation treated as accepted, Contractor's quotation treated as accepted in place of missing PM assessment.
The assessment follows the time clauses of your form, listed above. Not legal advice. Under NEC4 a claim for time is a compensation event; test 8 follows cl. 63.5, measured on the Accepted Programme current at the dividing date.
When something happens
What if?
If this happens, when do the handovers land, and what would it take to hold them? Delivered on request, on the same engine that reproduces your programme.
How it runs
- The scenario is stated in one of four shapes: a hold, a slip on a chain, new work inserted, or a global slip.
- It lands where you say: an activity, a trade, a building or the whole site.
- The programme is first reproduced as submitted, then the scenario applied, with constraints both respected and released.
- The result: handover dates before and after, the float used and the driving path after.
- Re-sequencing options are tested on the delayed network: what would recover the date, and how much of it.
What you receive
- A delay scenario report, with every assumption stated
- Handover dates before and after, and the moved activities
- The re-sequencing options measured on the delayed network
Modules
M16 Delay Scenarios
What if this happens: the handover dates before and after, the float it uses and what would recover it
On request
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Notice of a delay event cl 61.38 weeks
After becoming aware of the event. Contractor notifies a compensation event which the PM has not notified.
Contract-neutral. A measurement of what the logic does if the delay happens; not an entitlement opinion and not a forecast that it will.
Alongside the cycle
Schedule Visual
A separate workstream. The report says what the programme means; the Schedule Visual shows the programme itself, in a form that can be put in front of somebody who does not have it open.
How it runs
- One native programme export is read as it stands. Nothing is recalculated and nothing is an opinion.
- The work breakdown is rolled up to the level a reader can take in, each level told apart by colour.
- Duration, start and finish are printed beside every bar; the critical path and the near-critical work are picked out.
- The baseline is drawn under the live bar where one is given, with milestones and the data date marked.
- Issued at A3 with the monthly report, or on request, with the viewer file to change the level and print again.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The chart at A3, at the level you choose, or every activity
- The critical path view, and look-ahead and look-back windows
- The viewer file, to change the level, filter and timescale yourself
Modules
M15 Schedule Visual
The programme drawn as a bar chart at A3 — rolled up to the level a reader can take in, critical path picked out
With the monthly report, and on request
Contract-neutral. It reports the programme as submitted; the assurance findings are in the report.
Close-out
The project record
The one consolidated output. Every module’s outputs in one chronology, each file hashed, with the time position first. Its sample is the only one on this page, because it is where every other output ends up.
How it runs
- Each output is filed the day it is issued: the module, what it was and the file, with its hash.
- The time position comes first: original and current completion, each extension with its instrument, what is still open.
- The chronology follows, oldest first, across every module.
- The baseline in force each month is recorded, so any output can be read against the programme of its date.
- At close-out every file listed is copied into the handover pack and checked against the record.
On the specimen project
Kelvinbridge Therapeutics, Sterile Fill-Finish Facility · NEC4 ECC Option C · period August 2026. A fictional specimen project; every figure on this page comes from one model.
What you receive
- The project record, opening on its First View
- The chronology workbook, every file hashed
- The handover pack and its manifest
Modules
M13 Project Record
The whole chronology, every file hashed — the time position first, and the handover at close-out
On request, and at close-out
What the record consolidates
Every output the engagement issues is filed here the day it is issued, with its hash:
- M1Protocol, then each pack’s acceptance or return receipt
- M2Baseline review and conditions of acceptance
- M3Monthly programme comparison
- M4Progress verification on the unannounced sample
- M5Signed contract position and clock register
- M7Risk analysis: P50 and P80, both runs
- M8Action register and decisions log
- M9Sealed monthly entry, with hash and lock time
- M10Signed assurance report
- M12Independent schedule assessment and register
- M15Schedule visuals as issued
- M11Re-baseline review and bridge register
- M14Claim assessment and evidence register
- M16Delay scenario reports
The sample output: the project record (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Your contract’s clocks at this stage · NEC4 ECC
Final review of the completion date
Set by the clauses agreed at award - confirm against your contract
Contract-neutral. An index to the evidence in the order things happened; it draws no conclusions. Not legal advice. Available on request at any point, and at close-out.
A separate service
PMO set-up
Some projects need a PMO before they need assurance. That is a separate engagement, with its own page.
How it runs
- A free PMO diagnostic scores 63 controls from PCA-154 and orders the actions.
- Charter, governance and gates, and integrated controls are set up.
- A ninety-day mobilisation and a ready-made folder structure.
- The PMO is your second line. Independent assurance is the third line, so we do not assure a PMO we set up.
What you receive
- See the PMO set-up page for the diagnostic, the models and the folder structure
Contact
Talk to us
Start with a free first look, or tell us where the project is and which stage matters most to you.
enquiry@projectcentralassurance.com
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