Construction Procurement
The key thrust of Achieving Excellence is the delivery of best value for money. This is not the lowest cost but the best balance of quality and whole life cost to meet the user requirement. (pdf, 361kb) This guidance explains that, as with ‘Achieving Excellence’, construction procurement is taken to include new works, refurbishment and maintenance projects. The framework used is based upon the 10 themes for action included in the strategy for more sustainable construction ‘Building a Better Quality of Life’. (pdf, 284kb) This document outlines the key questions that a Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) should ask about a construction project in addition to the questions described in the companion document The OGC Gateway™ Process: A manager’s checklist.
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This guide is the first of the three core documents. It provides an overview of Achieving Excellence and the other Procurement Guides. It describes the key initiatives and aspirations for Achieving Excellence. It brings together the key messages for management from each of the guides and outlines the content of the guides. |
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This guide explains the key roles and responsibilities involved in construction procurement projects. It provides a recommended framework for project organisation that can be adapted to individual circumstances. |
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This guide outlines the decision points and processes involved in the delivery of construction projects. It sets the project procurement process in the context of OGC Gateway™ reviews, the design and construction stages and key supporting processes such as risk management, value management and quality, cost, time and change control. |
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This guide explains how risk and value are managed and summarises the key principles of risk and value management in the context of construction projects and describes the practical steps that need to be taken over the project lifecycle. |
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This guide explains how to work together as an integrated project team. The principle is simple: client and suppliers working together as a team can enhance whole life value while reducing total cost, improve quality, innovate and deliver a project far more effectively than in a traditional fragmented relationship that is often adversarial. Collaborative working should be a core requirement for each element of every project. Putting it into practice through teamworking and partnering requires real commitment from all parties involved, but brings benefits that far outweigh the effort involved. |
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This guide explains how to determine appropriate procurement routes that will deliver best value for money. Design, construction, operation and maintenance should not be considered in isolation from each other.The recommended procurement routes ensure that designers, constructors and specialist suppliers work together in an integrated team. |
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This guide focuses on the need to base decisions on a whole-life approach rather than the up front capital cost of the construction. It provides advice on producing whole-life cost models and explains what needs to be done to keep costs under control at key stages in the project. |
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This guide explains the principles and practice of performance evaluation. Measuring the performance of construction projects is essential for ensuring that planned improvements in quality, cost and time are achieved, comparing achieved performance with that of similar projects and identifying potential for doing things better, and for assessing how the integrated supply team compares with other potential suppliers. Clients also need to measure their own performance and benchmark with other clients to identify areas for improvement. |
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This guide explains the characteristics of good design and how design quality can be raised through the procurement process. Government recognises that good design needs to be supported and encouraged; design is integral to Achieving Excellence in Construction and to the achievement of value for money. It is at the design stage that most can be done to optimise the value of a facility to its end users. Good design takes full account of sustainability and environmental concerns. Badly designed facilities will fail to meet the needs of end users, cause operational problems, have high maintenance or running costs and can be inefficient, costly and dangerous to build. |
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Government procurement policy is based on Value for Money. Client actions have a direct impact in achieving this policy and they must demand that the health, safety and welfare of those who work in the construction industry is given the highest priority. Health and Safety are often seen as extra costs or issues for somebody else. In reality, clients can make a crucial difference to improving health and safety whilst achieving Value for Money and the business case demands that they do so. This guidance identifies how client decisions and activities impact on health and safety issues and in turn how health and safety issues have a beneficial impact on the performance of the contract and on achieving Value for Money. |
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This guide highlights the importance of sustainable development. It sets out the processes by which the public sector client can procure and deliver construction projects that best promote sustainable development while still achieving optimum whole life value for money. Its aim is to encourage thorough consideration of sustainable development and to illustrate the ways in which sustainable construction can be delivered. |
(pdf, 144kb) This Pocketbook provides a brief overview of procurement for construction projects. It explains the key considerations for this type of project and outlines the main project stages aligned to the OGC Gateway™ process. The essentials of the project are summarised - project management, risk and value management, integrating the project team, procurement strategy, whole life costing, performance measurement, design quality, health and safety aspects and sustainability, together with pointers to more detailed sources of advice and guidance. (pdf, 1.6mb) The National Audit Office report on modernising construction is about how the procurement and delivery of construction projects in the United Kingdom can be modernised, with benefits for all, the Construction Industry as well as clients. |
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