In the fifth and final post of this series we are pondering the idea that we may be about to usher in an age where we shift from “procurement” to “Pre-procurement”. Yes this is a cringe play on words, but hopefully it firmly lodges the idea of bringing the specification, pricing and procurement of whole buildings systems much further forward in the design process. It’s perhaps most directly applicable to RIBA 4 / AIA CD.

Anyone who is familiar with working on larger scale projects with established main contractors will know that often the margin that the contractor can achieve is dependent on their particular supply chain and how well suited it is to a given project, brief and site constraints. One contractor may have an edge over another on their ability and domain specific knowledge around a pivotal aspect of the project, allowing them to offer greater certainty on, for example, timely delivery on sites that cannot permit extended downtime or delay.

…