Construction procurement is the process a client uses to decide how a project will be designed, priced and built, and to appoint the people who will deliver it. The procurement route sets who is responsible for the design, when the price is fixed, how much the client can change along the way and who carries the risk if things go wrong. For most commercial projects in the UK, the choice is between four main routes: traditional, design and build, management contracting and construction management.

Getting the route right early matters more than many clients expect. It shapes the programme, the contract, the tender process and how much cost certainty you have before work starts on site. This guide explains each route in plain terms, how they compare and what to weigh up when you set the procurement strategy for your project.

What Is Construction Procurement?

In construction, procurement means more than buying. It covers the whole set of decisions about how the project team is put together and how the work is bought:

The procurement route: how design and construction are organised, and who is responsible for each.
The tender process: how contractors and consultants are invited to price, and how their bids are judged.
The contract: the terms that set out each party’s obligations and how payment, change and risk are handled.
The pricing basis: whether the price is a fixed lump sum, re-measured as the work proceeds, a target cost or reimbursed at cost.

Together, these make up the procurement strategy. The RIBA Plan of Work, the stage framework most UK design teams follow, is deliberately neutral about which route you choose, but it expects the procurement strategy to be agreed at Stage 1, Preparation and Briefing. In other words, it should be settled alongside the brief, budget and programme, well before tender documents are prepared. Our guide to the RIBA stages explains where procurement fits in each stage.

Why the Procurement Route Matters

Every route balances the same four things in a different way:

Cost certainty: how firm the price is when the contract is signed.
Time: how soon work can start on site, and whether design and construction can overlap.
Control: how much say the client keeps over the design and the quality of the finished building.
Risk: who pays when the design changes, quantities grow or problems are found on site.

No route scores well on all four. A route that gets you on site early usually gives less price certainty when you commit. A route that fixes the price before work starts usually needs the design to be complete first, which takes time. The right route is the one whose trade-offs suit your priorities.

The Main Construction Procurement Routes

Red crane jib above office buildings in the City of London, with a scaffolded building under construction

Traditional Procurement

Traditional procurement, sometimes called design-bid-build, separates design from construction. The client appoints a design team to complete the design, then invites contractors to tender against the finished drawings, specification and, on larger projects, a bill of quantities. The successful contractor builds what has been designed.

How it works: because the design is largely complete before tender, every contractor prices the same information and the client can compare bids like for like.

Suits: projects where cost certainty and design quality matter more than speed, and where the client wants to keep control of the design.

Watch for: it is usually the slowest route, because construction cannot start until design and tender are complete. Responsibility for the design stays with the client and its design team, so gaps or errors in the tender information usually become the client’s cost, at least in the first instance. Changes after the contract is signed are priced as variations.

Typical contracts: the JCT Standard Building Contract, Intermediate Building Contract or Minor Works Building Contract, depending on the size and complexity of the job, or the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract under Option A or B.

Design and Build

Under design and build, the contractor is responsible for both designing and building the project under a single contract. The client sets out what it needs in the Employer’s Requirements, and the contractor responds with its Contractor’s Proposals and a price. The client’s design team often develops the concept first and is then transferred to the contractor, a process known as novation, to complete the detailed design.

How it works: the client deals with one party for both design and construction, and the contractor carries the responsibility for coordinating the two.

Suits: clients who want a single point of responsibility, earlier price certainty and a shorter programme, on projects where requirements can be clearly defined at the outset.

Watch for: once the contract is signed, the client has less direct say over detailed design and specification. The quality of the result depends heavily on how well the Employer’s Requirements are written, and changes made after contract can be expensive.

Typical contracts: the JCT Design and Build Contract, or the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract, which can include any level of contractor design.

Management Contracting

Under management contracting, the client appoints a management contractor early, for a fee, to manage the construction phase. The work is divided into packages, which the management contractor tenders and places with separate works contractors. The management contractor holds those contracts, and the client pays the cost of the packages plus the management fee.

How it works: design can continue package by package while earlier packages are already being built, so work can start on site sooner.

Suits: larger or more complex projects where an early start matters, and where the design can be developed in stages.

Watch for: the final cost is not known when the management contractor is appointed. It builds up as each package is let, so most of the cost risk stays with the client.

Typical contracts: the JCT Management Building Contract, or NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract Option F (management contract).

Construction Management

Construction management procurement works in a similar way, with one important difference: the client places the trade contracts directly. A construction manager is appointed as a consultant to plan the programme, coordinate the trade contractors and advise on buildability, but is not in contract with the trades.

How it works: the client holds a direct contract with every trade contractor, with the construction manager running the site and the interfaces between packages on the client’s behalf.

Suits: experienced clients with the people and systems to manage several direct contracts, often on large or fast-moving projects where they want close control and full visibility of costs.

Watch for: this route puts the most risk with the client. You hold every trade contract and every interface between them, and if a trade contractor fails to perform, it is your contract that has to be enforced.

Typical contracts: JCT publishes a Construction Management family of contracts for this route, covering the construction manager’s appointment and the individual trade contracts.

Some clients, particularly public bodies and organisations with a regular programme of work, also use frameworks and partnering arrangements, which appoint a contractor for a series of projects rather than a single job.

How the Routes Compare

Route	Who designs	Price certainty at contract	Speed to site	Risk to the client	Best suited to
Traditional	Client’s design team	High, if the design is complete	Slower	Moderate: design risk stays with the client	Projects where cost certainty and design control come first
Design and build	Contractor, often with the novated design team	High, against the Employer’s Requirements	Faster	Lower, if requirements are clear	Well-defined projects needing one point of responsibility
Management contracting	Client’s design team, package by package	Low until the packages are let	Fast	Higher	Large or complex projects needing an early start
Construction management	Client’s design team, package by package	Low until the packages are let	Fast	Highest	Experienced clients who want direct control

Single-Stage and Two-Stage Tendering

Alongside the route, the client decides how to run the tender.

Single-stage tendering: contractors price a complete set of information in one round. It gives strong competition and a firm price, but only works if the design, or the Employer’s Requirements on a design and build project, is developed enough to be priced accurately.

Two-stage tendering: a contractor is chosen early on its preliminaries, overheads, profit and proposed approach, then joins the team under a pre-construction services agreement (PCSA). During the second stage it helps develop the design, advises on buildability and prices the work packages on an open-book basis before a final contract sum is agreed. It brings contractor expertise in earlier and can allow early or enabling works to start while later packages are still being priced. The trade-off is less competitive pressure on the final price, so the open-book process needs careful management. Many two-stage agreements leave the client free to go back out to tender if the second-stage price cannot be agreed.

Whichever approach you use, bids are usually judged on quality as well as price. Setting the balance between the two, and the questions that will test it, before the tender goes out makes the evaluation fairer and easier to defend.

Construction professional with a clipboard discussing work with a contractor on a construction site

Choosing the Contract and Pricing Basis

The contract should follow from the route, not the other way round. Most UK building projects use one of two families of standard contracts:

JCT contracts, published by the Joint Contracts Tribunal and widely used for building work in the UK. The current suite is the JCT 2024 Edition, which also introduced a new Target Cost Contract.
NEC4 contracts, whose Engineering and Construction Contract has six main options: priced contracts (Options A and B), target contracts (Options C and D), a cost reimbursable contract (Option E) and a management contract (Option F). Moving from A to F shifts more of the cost risk from the contractor to the client.

Amending standard forms is common, but heavy amendments add cost, slow down tendering and can move risk in ways that are easy to miss. If you are considering significant changes to a standard contract, take specialist legal advice before the tender goes out.

How to Choose a Construction Procurement Strategy

There is no single right answer, but working through these questions will usually narrow the choice quickly:

How developed is the design? A complete design suits traditional procurement or single-stage design and build. An early concept points towards two-stage tendering or one of the management routes.
What matters most: a fixed price, an early finish or control of the design? Put them in order. The route should protect the one at the top.
How much risk can you carry? If your budget is fixed or tied to funding conditions, you will usually need more cost certainty when you sign the contract.
How much change do you expect? If your requirements are likely to move, choose a route and contract that can handle change without constant disputes over variations.
What can your own team manage? The management routes need an experienced client side with time to make decisions quickly.
Are there operational constraints? A retail unit that has to keep trading during a refit, EV charging installed on a live forecourt or works in an occupied office all affect phasing and who should manage the interfaces.
Are you a public body? If so, the Procurement Act 2023, in force since 24 February 2025, governs how you run the tender. Private clients are not bound by it and have more freedom in how they approach the market.

Procurement and CDM 2015

Procurement decisions also carry health and safety duties. Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), anyone appointing a designer or contractor must take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the designer or contractor has the skills, knowledge and experience, and for organisations the organisational capability, to carry out the role safely. Checking competence is part of tender evaluation, not an extra.

Where more than one contractor will work on the project, CDM 2015 also requires the client to appoint a Principal Designer and a Principal Contractor in writing, as soon as practicable and before the construction phase begins. The client must make suitable arrangements for managing the project, including allowing enough time and resources, so an unrealistic tender period or programme can become a CDM issue as well as a commercial one. Routes where the client holds several contracts directly, such as construction management, need particular care over who takes each role. Our CDM Services page explains how we support clients with these duties.

Common Procurement Mistakes

Tendering too early: going out to tender before the design or Employer’s Requirements are ready, which leads to provisional sums, qualified bids and variations later.
Choosing on price alone: accepting the lowest bid without testing whether it is complete or whether the contractor has understood the job.
Picking a route you cannot resource: holding trade contracts directly without the people to manage them.
Short tender periods: not giving contractors enough time to price properly, which pushes risk into the price or into later claims.
Over-amending the contract: loading risk onto contractors who then price it in or dispute it.
Changing the brief after contract: once the contract is signed, every change becomes a variation with a cost and programme effect.

How CCM Supports Construction Procurement

CCM supports clients through procurement as part of our Construction Project Management service. That includes advising on the most suitable procurement route, preparing tender documentation, evaluating bids and managing the appointment process, then administering the contract once work starts. Our Budget and Cost Control service supports the tender with cost planning and tender cost management, so the price you accept reflects the scope you need.

We work on commercial, retail and EV and energy projects across the UK. If you are planning a project and want to talk through the right procurement route, speak to CCM.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is construction procurement?

Construction procurement is the process of deciding how a construction project will be designed, priced and built, and appointing the consultants and contractors to deliver it. It covers the procurement route, the tender process, the form of contract and the pricing basis.

What are the main procurement routes in construction?

The four main routes are traditional (design-bid-build), design and build, management contracting and construction management. Frameworks and partnering arrangements are also used, particularly by public bodies and clients with a regular programme of work.

What is the difference between traditional and design and build procurement?

In traditional procurement, the client’s design team completes the design and the contractor builds it. In design and build, the contractor takes responsibility for both design and construction under one contract, working to the client’s Employer’s Requirements.

What is the difference between management contracting and construction management?

In both routes the work is let as separate packages. Under management contracting, the management contractor holds the contracts with the works contractors. Under construction management, the client holds the trade contracts directly and the construction manager acts as a consultant.

Which procurement route gives the most cost certainty?

Traditional procurement with a complete design and a single-stage tender, or single-stage design and build against clear Employer’s Requirements, usually gives the most certainty when the contract is signed. In every case, certainty depends on the quality of the information tendered: gaps in the tender information tend to become variations.

What is two-stage tendering?

Two-stage tendering appoints a contractor early, usually under a pre-construction services agreement, so it can help develop the design and price the work packages on an open-book basis before the final contract sum is agreed.

When should the procurement strategy be decided?

As early as possible. The RIBA Plan of Work expects the procurement strategy to be agreed at Stage 1, Preparation and Briefing, alongside the project brief, budget and programme.

Do private clients have to follow procurement law?

Public bodies must follow the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on 24 February 2025. Private clients are not bound by public procurement rules, but they still have legal duties under CDM 2015, including checking the competence of the designers and contractors they appoint.