Procurement & Tendering

Question 1

What are the main procurement methods?

Answer 1

Traditional
Design and Build
Management contracting
Construction Management
PFI (Private Finance Initiative)

Question 2

What should be considered when selecting a procurement route?

Answer 2

The specifics of a project
The form of contract being used
Client objectives regarding: Cost, Time, Control, Quality and Risk.

Question 3

What is traditional procurement?

Answer 3

The design is completed by the clients design team before competitive tenders are invited and a main contractor is employed to build what the designers have specified.

Question 4

How does traditional procurement work?

Answer 4

The contractor takes responsibility and financial risk for the construction of the works to the design produced by the clients design team for the contract sum within the contract period.
The client takes the responsibility and risk for the design and design team performance.

Question 5

When is traditional procurement appropriate?

Answer 5

When the employer has had the design prepared.
If the design is substantially completed at the time of contractor selection.
The client wishes to retain control over the design and specification.
If cost certainty at the start of the project is important to the client.
If the shortest overall programme is not the clients main priority. (The design and construction are mostly separate so there is minimal overlap between them)

Question 6

What are the advantages of traditional procurement?

Answer 6

Retain control over the design can lead to higher quality.
Increases cost certainty before commencement.
Design changes are reasonably easy to arrange and value.

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of traditional procurement?

Answer 7

Longer overall project duration due to lack of overlap between design and construction.
There is no design or planning input by the contractor.
Based on price competition can lead to adversarial relations.
There is a dual point of responsibility with the design team controlling the design and the contractor retaining responsibility for the construction.