National Agreement

The National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI)

The National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) sets comprehensive terms and conditions of employment for hourly-paid engineering construction workers on major and basic engineering construction projects, repair and maintenance sites and events / outages throughout the UK.

The signatories to the NAECI are:

ECIA
Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland
Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland
Thermal Insulation Contractors’ Association
Thermal Insulation Contractors’ Association
GMB
GMB
Unite the Union
Unite the Union

Together, the signatory parties form the National Joint Council for the Engineering Construction Industry (NJC), which oversees the operation of the NAECI and undertakes periodic reviews of rates and other terms and conditions.

The NAECI has been in existence for nearly 40 years and details of the current edition for 2024 – 2025 can be found below.

The National Joint Council for the Engineering Construction Industry (NJC) is a partnership between trade unions and employers. It reviews and administers the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry – sometimes referred to as the ‘Blue Book’, or the NAECI.

The NJC’s objectivity, authority and independence foster cohesive working relationships. The same qualities equip it to play a constructive role as the industry meets the challenges of the future.

The partnership promotes improvements in working practice and culture. The creation of new, inclusive alliances is vital to the attainment of greater efficiency. By extending the scope and effectiveness of partnership within the industry, the NJC seeks to secure long-term prosperity for clients, contractors and workforce alike.

A thriving UK engineering construction industry largely depends on client competitiveness. The NJC is firmly focused on assisting contractors and trade unions in their drive towards providing clients with a unified, cohesive and cost-effective service. Able to prevent, or rapidly resolve, workplace problems on behalf of clients, the NJC can also assist the process of change undertaken by clients to achieve continuous improvement in quality, reliability, safety and efficiency.

The NJCECI is composed equally of representatives of the employers’ associations and two trade unions detailed above, who are signatory to the NAECI, under an independent Chairman.

These unions form the National Engineering Construction Committee (NECC) which achieves a single trade union voice.

The structure of membership and the constitution of the NJCECI provide the essentials of a single table agreement and create the standards setting authority for good practice. Continuous improvement in standards has had a positive impact on the safety and welfare conditions of the workforce; and it continues to have a major impact on the performance of the engineering construction industry.

National Agreement Booklet

The 2024-2025 NAECI is available to purchase at £5 per copy, plus postage for members of signatory employer associations and trades unions and £10 per copy, plus postage for non-members.

VAT does not apply.

Postage & Packing

The NAECI 2024 – 2025 booklets will be posted 2nd class with 1st class postage rates on request.

2nd Class
1 book£2.60
2 books£2.60
3 books£2.60
4 books£2.99
5 books£2.99
6 books£2.99
7 books£2.99
8 books£2.99
9 books£5.99
10 books£5.99

For postage costs for 11 books or more, please contact the NJC Office, details below.

Payment Method

You can pay by electronic bank transfer or BACs (whichever applies) quoting reference ‘NAECI Book’ to :

NatWest Account Number 24795585,
Sort Code 60-40-02, Account Name NJCECI

You can also pay via Paypal using the following link: paypal.me/njceci.  Please ensure that you state your  name, postal address and the number of copies required.

Alternatively, payment can be made by cheque  made payable to ‘NJCECI’. Please send your order with payment to:

NJCECI
5th Floor
Spirella House
266-270 Regent Street
London W1B 3AH

Queries regarding NAECI Booklet purchases can be made to the NJC Office by telephone 020 7734 0244 or email julie.jordan@njceci.org.uk or karen.thomas@njceci.org.uk

A new two year deal was successfully concluded in January 2024 and NJC Communique 02(24) gives full details of the settlement and rate and allowance increases for the 2024 – 2025 period. The new NAECI 2024 – 2025 reflects these changes and is available in PDF format as a free download below.

It should be noted that in all instances the current online version of the NAECI 2024 – 2025 takes precedence over the originally printed hard copy version.

NAECI 2024 - 2025

707.93 KB

NAECI Annex A Notification of Work Form (NAECI 20.1)

49.23 KB

Stage 4 Application Form - NJC Dispute Adjudication Panel v1.6

101.45 KB

Stage 4 Application Form - NJC Dismissal Arbitration Panel v1.6

97.45 KB

Stage 4 Application Form Supplement - Consent Form for Other Individuals Named

11.98 KB

Application for accommodation allowance

120.32 KB

Model health screening form and guidance for night workers (Working Time Regulations)

82.83 KB

Model individual opt-out provisions & opt-out form (Working Time Regulations)

68.51 KB

Monthly injury report form

57.75 KB

    Central to the success of the National Agreement is a highly effective, widely respected procedure for the prevention and resolution of issues at site level. Where, exceptionally, resolution is not achieved at site level, there is swift recourse to national level for a final and binding decision.

    NAECI 2019-2020

    Stage 4 Application Form Supplement - Consent Form for Other Individuals Named

    11.98 KB

      To assist with further clarity and ease of use of the NAECI, its Procedures and processes, helpful Guidance Notes which are agreed by the NJC are issued as and when required.

      NJC Guide to making NAECI Payments - Dec 2024

      479.15 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (14)04 - NJC Dismissal Arbitration Panels - Best Practice

      170.17 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (20)02 - NAECI Procedural Process Requirements

      173.24 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (20)03 - Alternative Stage 4 Procedural Arrangements

      205.54 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (20)01 - Efficient Use of Working Hours

      56.33 KB

      NJC Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare

      344.25 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (19)01 - Early Action and the Provison of Information

      293.08 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (18)01 - Changes to NAECI Holiday Pay

      341.73 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (17)02 - Non UK Contractors on NAECI Registered Sites

      245.18 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (17)01 - Fixed Term Contracts

      259.61 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (16)04 - Energy from Waste Projects

      179.77 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (16)03 - Operatives Using Rope Access

      35.05 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (16)02 - Continuous Improvement

      153.53 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (16)01 - Accommodation Allowance

      157.00 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (15)01 - NAECI Registration - Category 3 & Other Work

      172.95 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (14)05 - NAECI Registration - Category 1 & 2

      170.11 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (14)03 - Category 1 Basic Projects

      71.84 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (14)02 - SPA Scope Guidance

      140.50 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (14)01 - Handling Redundancy

      120.75 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (13)01 - Site Transport to and from the Car Park and Welfare Village

      134.42 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (12)01 - Conditional Death Benefit 2012

      134.61 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (10)04 - Access to NAECI Procedure

      113.21 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (10)03 - Payment for attendance at Stage 4 Panels

      114.75 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (10)02 - Unprocedural Action - Use of NAECI Procedures

      126.71 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (10)01 - Performance-Based Payments

      14.54 KB

      NJC Guidance Note (08)01 - Dependants Additional Benefits Scheme

      107.29 KB

      NJC Guide to Taxation Treatment of NAECI Allowances - July 2022

      296.49 KB

      Guide to the NAECI

      4.59 MB

      NJC Abbreviations

      127.97 KB

        NJC Communiques are periodically issued to give information on new NAECI review progress, new NAECI Rates advice and significant industry news. They can be found in our document archive.

        The key objective of the NAECI is to continue to supply a modern, robust and “fit for purpose” national employment relations structure that:

        • Enables UK engineering construction industry employers and clients to remain globally competitive
        • Provides attractive terms and conditions and greater security of employment for a competent, motivated productive and competitive industry workforce; and
        • Establishes a sound foundation for further improvements to industry productivity

        Throughout the NAECI there are a number of tools and enablers with which can be used by the stakeholders to achieve these objectives and they have been brought together in a single paper for easy reference. The paper can be downloaded here.

        NAECI Productivity Enablers

        261.84 KB