These are copy-ready templates for six common notices under NEC4, JCT and FIDIC. Each comes with the clause it relies on, the deadline, and the mistakes that most often sink it. They are starting points written by us, not contract wording, so check them against your own contract and its amendments before you send anything.
Who this is for: commercial managers, quantity surveyors and contract managers at contractors and subcontractors who need to get a notice out quickly and correctly, on NEC4 ECC, JCT SBC or Design and Build, or the FIDIC 2017 Red Book.
Deadlines at a glance
| Notice | Clause | Deadline | What a missing or late notice can cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEC4 early warning | 15.1 | As soon as you become aware | The event is assessed as if the warning had been given (61.5, 63.7) |
| NEC4 compensation event | 61.3 | 8 weeks from becoming aware the event has happened | No change to the Prices, Completion Date or Key Dates, unless an exception applies |
| JCT notice of delay | SBC 2.27, DB 2.24 | Forthwith, once delay is reasonably apparent | Usually weakens an extension of time claim rather than ending it, unless amended |
| JCT loss and expense | SBC 4.21, DB 4.20 | As soon as the likely effect on progress is reasonably apparent | Held a condition precedent in FES v HFD (Scotland, 2024) |
| FIDIC 2017 Notice of Claim | 20.2.1 | 28 days from awareness | Time-barred unless the late submission is justified (20.2.5) |
| Confirming a verbal instruction | JCT SBC 3.12, DB 3.7 | 7 days | No effect until confirmed and 7 days pass without dissent |
Before you use any of them
A few habits apply to every template below:
- Send each notice on its own. Not inside a progress report, the minutes or an email thread about something else. NEC4 clause 13.7 makes this a requirement for notifications, and under the other forms it removes the argument about whether notice was given at all.
- One event per notice. If three things happened, send three notices. It keeps each clock clear.
- Name the clause and call it a notice. Under FIDIC 2017 a Notice must be identified as a Notice. Under every form, a reader who can see straight away what the document is and which clause it relies on is harder to argue with.
- Use the contract's channel. Send it to the address or communication system the contract names, from someone with authority to send it.
- Record when you became aware. Most deadlines run from awareness, so the date you write down will be tested later.
1. NEC4 early warning (clause 15.1)
Use it when you become aware of any matter that could increase the total of the Prices, delay Completion, delay meeting a Key Date, or impair the performance of the works in use.
Contract: [name and reference], NEC4 ECC Option [ ].
We give an early warning of the following matter: [describe the matter, e.g. groundwater found at 1.2 m below formation level in excavation E3 on 6 October 2026].
It could [increase the total of the Prices / delay Completion / delay meeting Key Date [ ] / impair the performance of the works in use], because [one or two lines on the likely effect].
We propose that this matter is added to the Early Warning Register and discussed at the next early warning meeting. Our initial suggestion for avoiding or reducing its effect is [proposal].
Watch out for: treating it as a compensation event notification. NEC's own guidance is that the two are separate processes, and an early warning doesn't double up as a notified compensation event. If the matter turns into a compensation event, notify that separately under clause 61.3. Skipping the early warning has its own cost: if the Project Manager decides an experienced contractor could have given it, the event is assessed as if you had (clauses 61.5 and 63.7).
2. NEC4 compensation event notification (clause 61.3)
Use it when an event has happened that you believe is a compensation event and the Project Manager hasn't notified it. The eight weeks run from when you became aware that the event had happened, not from when you worked out it was compensable. Our guide to the NEC4 eight-week notice clock explains the timing and the exception for events arising from the Project Manager's own instructions.
Contract: [name and reference], NEC4 ECC Option [ ].
We notify the following event as a compensation event: [describe the event, e.g. physical conditions encountered in excavation E3 on 6 October 2026: groundwater at 1.2 m below formation level].
We consider it a compensation event under clause [60.1(12) / other 60.1 item], because [one or two lines].
We became aware that the event had happened on [date]. [We gave an early warning of this matter on [date], reference [ ].]
Watch out for: waiting until you can price it. The notification doesn't need a quotation; the quotation comes later. Notify first, then quote when instructed.
3. JCT notice of delay (SBC clause 2.27, DB clause 2.24)
Use it when it becomes reasonably apparent that progress of the Works, or a Section, is being or is likely to be delayed. The clause asks for three things: the notice itself, particulars of the expected effects including an estimate of the delay, and updates when the position changes.
Contract: JCT [SBC / DB] [2016 / 2024], [project name], as amended.
It has become reasonably apparent that progress of the Works [in Section [ ]] is being, or is likely to be, delayed. The material circumstances are: [describe what happened, when and where]. The cause of the delay is [cause or causes].
We consider that [event] is a Relevant Event under clause [2.29.x / 2.26.x].
[Particulars of the expected effects, including our estimate of the expected delay in completion beyond the Completion Date, are enclosed. / Particulars of the expected effects and our estimate of delay will follow as soon as possible.]
We will notify any material change in the estimated delay or the particulars.
Watch out for: sending the notice and never following up. The estimate and the updates are part of the clause. Under the 2016 editions the decision is due within 12 weeks of receiving the required particulars. Under 2024 it is 8 weeks, and the other side has 14 days to ask for further particulars. Separately, a notice of delay protects time, not money: loss and expense needs its own notification.
4. JCT loss and expense notification (SBC clause 4.21, DB clause 4.20)
Use it when the likely effect of a Relevant Matter on regular progress becomes, or should have become, reasonably apparent. Since the Inner House decision in FES v HFD, treat a missing notification as fatal to the contractual claim.
Contract: JCT [SBC / DB] [2016 / 2024], [project name], as amended.
We notify that [describe the Relevant Matter] is a Relevant Matter under clause [4.22.x / 4.21.x]. Its likely effect on the regular progress of the Works became apparent on [date].
Our initial assessment of the loss and/or expense incurred and likely to be incurred is [enclosed / will follow as soon as reasonably practicable], with supporting information. We will update it monthly until final ascertainment.
Watch out for: relying on the notice of delay to do this job. The two notices sit in different clauses and protect different things. The JCT loss and expense guide has a fuller model notice and the case behind the risk.
5. FIDIC 2017 Notice of Claim (Sub-Clause 20.2.1)
Use it when you consider you are entitled to additional time or money. Give it as soon as practicable, and no later than 28 days after you became aware, or should have become aware, of the event or circumstance.
Contract: [name and reference], FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction, 2017.
This is a Notice under Sub-Clause 1.3 and a Notice of Claim under Sub-Clause 20.2.1.
Event or circumstance: [describe it, e.g. late access to Area B, which the Employer was to give by 1 September 2026 and gave on 16 September 2026].
We became aware of it on [date]. We consider we are entitled to [an extension of the Time for Completion and/or additional payment]. A fully detailed Claim will follow within 84 days of the date we became aware, including the contractual or other legal basis of the Claim.
Signed: [name], Contractor's Representative.
Watch out for: two later deadlines. If the Engineer thinks the notice is late, it must say so within 14 days (20.2.2). And if the fully detailed Claim doesn't state its contractual or legal basis within the 84 days, the Notice of Claim lapses (20.2.4). Our guide to the FIDIC 28-day time bar covers how strictly the courts have applied it.
6. Confirmation of a verbal or WhatsApp instruction
Use it when you've been told to do something by phone, in person or in a site group chat. Under JCT 2016 an instruction that isn't in writing has no immediate effect until you confirm it within 7 days and the other side doesn't dissent within 7 days. Under NEC4 and FIDIC 2017, ask for the instruction to be issued properly through the contract's channel.
Contract: [name and reference], [NEC4 ECC / JCT SBC or DB / FIDIC 2017], as amended.
On [date] at [time], [name and role] instructed us by [method] to [describe the instruction]. A copy of the message is attached.
We confirm the instruction under clause [JCT 3.12 / 3.7], or ask that it is issued through the contract's communication system [NEC4 13.2 / FIDIC 1.3]. Any compensation event, Variation or loss and expense notice will follow separately.
Watch out for: instructions from someone without authority. Our guide to WhatsApp instructions under NEC4, JCT and FIDIC covers who can instruct, and what the courts have said about informal messages.
Where OnNotice fits
A template only helps if someone spots the event in time to use it. OnNotice reads site messages, project email and meeting minutes as they arrive, flags the events that may need one of these notices, cites the clause for the contract your project is configured to, and starts the clock from the day the event surfaced. It drafts the notice; a person decides what gets sent. See how it works.
Our guide to why contractors lose entitlements to time-bars covers how notice events get buried before anyone reaches for a template.
Sources
- CECA, NEC4 Bulletin No. 5: Early Warnings and Liability for Not Notifying (May 2021), on clauses 15.1 to 15.3
- NEC, Seven practical tips for making NEC early warnings more effective
- NEC, NEC101: early warnings (webinar slides, 2025), on keeping early warnings separate from compensation events
- Arbicon, The NEC4 ECC contract: notifying compensation events and early warnings, PBC Today (November 2022), on clauses 15.1, 61.3, 61.5 and 63.7
- Henia Investments Inc v Beck Interiors Ltd [2015] EWHC 2433 (TCC), judgment, quoting the JCT notice of delay clause (SBC 2011)
- JCT, JCT 2024 Edition information booklet, on the review period cut from 12 to 8 weeks
- Beale & Co, JCT Contracts 2024: Standard Building Contracts, on the 14-day request for further particulars
- JCT contents pages for the 2024 Standard Building Contract and Design and Build Contract (clause numbering)
- FES Ltd v HFD Construction Group Ltd [2024] CSIH 37, judgment
- Institute of Construction Claims Practitioners, Notices under the FIDIC 2017 editions, on Sub-Clause 1.3
- Ramskill Martin, How to successfully claim and manage change under JCT, on SBC clause 3.12
These templates are general starting points, not legal advice for your contract. Notice requirements are often amended, so have a contracts specialist confirm the position on your project before relying on them.
Frequently asked questions
- Does NEC4 prescribe a form for an early warning?
- No. Clause 15 sets no particular content or template. An early warning is a notification, so it must be in a form that can be read, copied and recorded (clause 13.1) and communicated separately from other communications (clause 13.7). NEC's guidance adds that it needs no reply, and that it shouldn't be given verbally.
- Can one letter be both an early warning and a compensation event notification?
- Keep them separate. NEC's own guidance is that they are separate processes and an early warning doesn't double up as a notified compensation event, and clause 13.7 requires notifications to be communicated separately. Send the early warning as soon as you become aware of the matter, and notify the compensation event under clause 61.3 within eight weeks of becoming aware that the event has happened.
- How quickly must a JCT notice of delay be given?
- Forthwith, once it becomes reasonably apparent that progress is being or is likely to be delayed (SBC clause 2.27, DB clause 2.24). Particulars and an estimate of the delay go with the notice if practicable, otherwise as soon as possible after it, and any material change must be notified forthwith.
- What happens if a FIDIC 2017 Notice of Claim is sent late?
- The claim is time-barred unless the late submission is justified under Sub-Clause 20.2.5. If the Engineer considers the notice late, it must say so within 14 days; otherwise the notice is deemed valid (20.2.2).