Procurement and Contract Arrangement

Abstract

The client, when seeking to procure and authorise the undertaking of small building works, has a variety of procurement and contract arrangements available. Essentially, any arrangement represents a formal relationship between the two main parties involved in the work, the client and the contractor. The various standard forms of building contract used to confirm the legal relationship are reviewed in Chapter 5. The main differences between the various types of procurement and contractual arrangement feature in the variations of methods used to describe, measure, value and discharge the works. Forms of approach can accommodate a wide range of small building works, from individual construction projects entailing little complexity and with few demands upon resources, to more intricate and demanding construction which require greater, technical and managerial expertise. Works such as these may be arranged informally with a minimum of interrelations between the client and contractor and with little contract documentation, or be procured on a formal level under explicit forms of contract with considerable documentation. Irrespective of differing circumstances, there is usually an appropriate method available.