Building procurement

The procurement of construction work is complex, and a successful outcome that is frequently elusive.

Clients have developed increased expectations of the industry, and constructors and consultants are faced with far greater demands, to achieve improvements in terms of value for money and quality, in addition to seeking savings in cost and time.

This book provides a critical review of current practices in building procurement and evaluates new approaches, particularly from the USA, together with discussing the drivers for change in traditional UK procurement approaches.

It emphasises, in particular, the important need for clients to establish achievable objectives which reflect the client's business case for the project, and then to develop a strategy and management structure to meet those objectives.

The book also examines procurement practices in Europe, including EU procurement procedures, and in China and the USA.

It will be of interest to construction management postgraduates and researchers, as well as construction practitioners.

Roy Morledge is Professor of Construction Procurement in the School of the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University.Adrian Smith is a Consultant at the College of Estate Management.

Dean Kashiwagi is Professor and Director of the Performance Based Studies Research Group, Del E Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University, United States of America.

Cover design is by Simon Witter and the cover photographs are courtesy of Stephen Brown.