Has the industry become too obsessed with procurement?

Procurement is an essential part of delivering a construction project. The right procurement strategy can provide clarity, competition, value and an appropriate allocation of risk. Frameworks can provide efficient routes to market, and well-run procurement processes can help clients assemble the right team for the project ahead. 

But somewhere along the way, has the industry become too focused on getting projects procured rather than getting them ready to be procured? 

It is an important distinction. 

There can be understandable pressure on clients to demonstrate progress. Moving from an initial idea to a formally procured project is tangible. It creates a sense of momentum. A procurement exercise can be measured by milestones, dates and appointments. 

But procurement is not the same thing as project readiness. 

A project can have a procurement strategy, a timetable and a route to market while still having significant uncertainty around its brief, design, budget, programme or risk profile. 

If those uncertainties are simply transferred into the procurement process, they do not disappear. They are likely to reappear later, often with greater consequences. 

This is particularly relevant for public-sector projects, where there can be considerable pressure to demonstrate that funding is being put to use and projects are progressing. Procurement frameworks and professional services arrangements can provide valuable routes to market, but they should be viewed as tools for delivering projects rather than objectives in themselves. 

The GCA's construction professional services arrangements are designed to provide public-sector organisations with access to professional services across the construction lifecycle, including project management and cost management. The availability of a compliant route to market is valuable, but the existence of that route does not remove the need for good project preparation. 

In fact, it arguably makes preparation more important. 

Before going to market, clients should be asking whether they really understand what they are trying to deliver. Is the brief sufficiently developed? Is the budget realistic? Has the programme been properly considered? Are the key risks understood? Have the necessary stakeholders been involved? Is the proposed procurement route appropriate for the project's complexity and risk profile? 

If the answer to several of those questions is “not yet”, then perhaps the project isn't ready to be procured. 

There is also a tendency within the industry to view procurement as a competition between price and quality. But the cheapest tender isn't necessarily the best outcome, just as the most expensive tender isn't necessarily the highest quality. 

The procurement process should be about selecting the solution and team that provide the best fit for the client's objectives and risk appetite. 

That requires a clear understanding of what those objectives actually are. 

It also requires the project team to challenge the client when necessary. One of the most valuable roles a project manager or cost consultant can play is not simply progressing the project but asking difficult questions early enough for those questions to make a difference. 

None of these questions are intended to slow projects down. Quite the opposite. 

The purpose of good preparation is to reduce the likelihood of projects slowing down later. 

A procurement exercise that takes place four months earlier but results in months of clarification, redesign, negotiation and change may ultimately be less efficient than spending those four months getting the project ready in the first place. 

The industry therefore needs to think carefully about what “speed” actually means. 

Getting to contract quickly is not necessarily the same as delivering quickly. 

The real measure should be how efficiently a project moves from concept to successful completion. 

Procurement is an important part of that journey. But it is only one part. 

The best procurement strategy in the world cannot compensate for an unclear brief, an unrealistic budget or an immature design

“How ready are we to procure it?” 

That small change in perspective could make a significant difference to the projects that follow.