AEC definitions
NIC means not in contract. The item is drawn so you can coordinate around it, but it is not work the contractor includes in the price. The general notes should define the abbreviation. A tag without that definition is ambiguous.
Definition
Equipment, furniture, and owner-supplied devices are the usual NIC items. Showing them is still useful: clearances, power, and backing may be in contract even when the item itself is not. The note should say which. 'Refrigerator NIC' with a dedicated circuit on the electrical drawings means the circuit is in contract and the appliance is not. Owner-furnished, contractor-installed is a different abbreviation, often OFCI, and it means the contractor installs what the owner buys. Treating NIC and OFCI as the same word drops either the purchase or the labor.
In depth
The abbreviation sheet should say NIC means not in contract, furnished and installed by others. Use that meaning everywhere. Do not also use NIC for 'not in this phase' unless you spell the second meaning out.
If the base building and a tenant fit-out are separate contracts, say which contract the tag refers to.
Backing in the wall, a shutoff, a floor sink, and a clearance are often in contract so the NIC equipment can be installed later. The drawings should say so beside the tag, not only in a distant general note.
A bidder who excludes the backing because the equipment is NIC has missed the work. A bidder who includes the equipment has added scope. The note prevents both.
If a specification section requires the item and the plan says NIC, you have a conflict. Precedence clauses and an addendum resolve it. Do not leave both in the bid set.
Keynotes that point to a spec section are a strong signal the item is in contract. An NIC tag on that same element needs an explicit exception.
NIC equipment that arrives late can delay the contractor's closeout. The contract should say when owner items are delivered and who receives them. That coordination is often in contract even though the purchase is not.
Damage and storage belong in the same note. An NIC piano in an unfinished lobby needs an owner.
Dotted future walls and NIC future equipment keep the current contractor from blocking a later phase.
They are not a promise that the current contract includes them. Label the phase.
Examples
The plan shows a refrigerator tagged NIC. The electrical plan shows a circuit. The bidder carries the circuit and not the appliance.
General notes define OFCI separately. The owner buys the projector. The contractor installs it. It is not tagged NIC.
A spec section requires lockers and the plan tags them NIC. Addendum 1 removes one of the two instructions.
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