HOLD POINTS AND NOTIFICATION POINTS

06 Oct 2017

HOLD POINTS AND NOTIFICATION POINTS

INTRODUCTION
Hold Points and Notification Points are stages in construction where verification and inspection may be required to ensure:
• Confirmation of the scope of the work to be carried out
• Preparatory work has been completed to the required standard to allow work to continue
• Specified technical quality has been achieved
• Dimensional tolerances have been achieved

Initially the obligation is for the Contractor to advise that a Hold Point or Notification Point stage is about to be reached. Once advised, generally Hold Points and Notification Points, apply to the Contract Administrator or other nominated persons not under the Contractors control. They are generally professional or technical consultants who will have certification obligations relating to the construction of the works.

HOLD POINT
A Hold Point is a mandatory verification beyond which a work process cannot proceed without authorisation from the Contract Administrator. They should be applied only to those critical aspects of the work where either confirmation as to what is to be done is required or where the work cannot be inspected or corrected at a later stage because they are no longer accessible. Actual on-site inspection is usually required though in some cases review of documentation provided by others.

Hold points must be nominated by either the Contract Administrator or the Principal. They should be used sparingly and prudently, being applied to only those parts of the work where verification and direction must be given. In all instances the notice required that the stage has been reached and the time required to respond will need to be kept as short as practicable.

NOTIFICATION POINT
A Notification Point is a stage of construction where the Contract Administrator requires that they are advised that certain work is about to be carried out and to then have the opportunity to observe the work actually being carried out. Depending on circumstances, the Contract Administrator may or may not take the opportunity to observe the work. The work may however proceed.

CONTRACTOR OBLIGATIONS
The Contractor is responsible for complying with the requirements of the specification and other contract documents. The Contractor may disburse this obligation to the subcontractor carrying out the work. This includes ensuring that the Contract Administrator is advised when a Hold or Notification Point is reached. A notice period of 2 Working Days should suffice in most instances and this must be embodied in the specification as the default notice period.

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATORS OBLIGATONS
The Contract Administrator will need to be aware of the times when the Contractor is likely to be advising that these points have been reached. They will need to ensure that respond within the required time. In the event that there is a delay in their response, particularly with Hold Points, the Contractor may be entitled to an extension of time.

MASTERSPEC APPROACH
The Masterspec approach is to address this in the general sections defining what these terms mean and the default notice required. The relevant work section will include specific details relating to details of what is required in relation to this part of the work.

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HOLD POINTS AND NOTIFICATION POINTS