Materials & Supplier Buying
Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Main Contractors & Clients5 working days per supply package
I define the goods to be bought, build the delivery and call-off pattern from the construction programme, compare quotes on one basis and recommend the supplier with the order terms the buy requires. This is buying goods rather than work, one supply package at a time.
The problem
A materials purchase can be treated like a small works package and compared only on the quoted total. The price may expire before delivery, the delivery dates may not match the programme, storage and double-handling may sit outside the comparison, and payment before delivery may leave title or vesting unresolved. The cheapest quote can therefore be the least usable one.
The solution
I define the goods and build the delivery and call-off requirement from the construction programme. Quotes are sought and compared on one basis, including what the quotes do not show. I test each price validity period against the delivery dates, settle title or vesting where payment precedes delivery, and make the recommendation with the call-off and delivery terms the order must carry.
Buying goods differs from buying work in four ways that decide whether the buy is any good: how long the price lasts, the delivery and call-off pattern, storage and double-handling, and who owns material paid for before it is delivered.
What you receive
A supplier recommendation with the call-off and delivery terms the order must carry. The goods are defined against the specification, quantity and quality standard; quotes are compared on one basis; each price validity period is tested against delivery; and title or vesting is settled where payment is required before delivery.
The Handover Pack accompanies the work with its dates and sources, likely outcomes and responses, scope boundaries and ready-to-send correspondence where needed.
Turnaround: five working days per supply package.
The working days start when the agreed scope and required inputs are available. Optional items do not hold the start unless the agreed scope says otherwise.
How it works
You tell me what goods need buying
You set out the supply package, the delivery need and whether there is a supplier list or an instruction to build one.
You send the specification, quantities and delivery information
The list below gives the buying exercise the goods definition, quality standard, programme and supplier position it needs.
- A
The specification, quantity and quality standard
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to enquire on, and quotations would come back on four different products
Where to find it: The design team's specification, and the drawings the quantities come off. Where quantities have been measured under the relevant service, use that schedule.
Why I need it: It is what is being bought, and suppliers price against it
- B
The delivery programme: what is needed on site and when
EssentialWithout it: The enquiry asks for a price with no delivery pattern, so every quote comes back on the supplier's own assumption and none can be compared
Where to find it: Your construction programme, with the revision number, and whoever is planning the sequence on site. Where the relevant service produced a buying schedule for this project, its buy-by date for this supply is the date to work the deliveries back from.
Why I need it: Delivery pattern is half of what a supply costs
- C
The supplier list, or an instruction to build one
EssentialWithout it: There is no one to send the enquiry to, and the conflict check cannot run
Where to find it: Your buying department's supplier list for this material. If you want the list built, say so and it is built and put to you before anything is sent.
Why I need it: Who is being asked, and the conflict check
- D
The budget or allowance
ImportantWithout it: The comparison says which supplier is cheapest but not whether any of them is affordable
Where to find it: Your own cost plan, or the allowance carried in the package this supply sits inside. Where your buying department carries its own allowance for this material, give that as well, as a percentage and saying whether it is of the measured or of the delivered quantity.
Why I need it: Provides the budget for comparison and any percentage allowance you use for waste or contingency on this material
- E
Storage, access and delivery constraints on site, and what an extra movement and a held offloading crew cost
ImportantWithout it: The enquiry asks for full loads by default, and the cheapest full-load rate is recommended for a site that cannot receive full loads. Without the costs, the work can count the extra movements but cannot value them
Where to find it: Your site set-up plan, and whoever runs the site. Delivery window, offloading arrangements, storage area and any restrictions on vehicle size. The attendance and plant costs come from your own site cost information, or a quotation for the attendance.
Why I need it: The constraints decide the call-off pattern, and the call-off pattern decides the price. The costs allow your own movements and storage to be valued
- F
What the main contract says about materials, vesting and payment for goods off site
ImportantWithout it: The vesting position is settled against general principles rather than against the contract that governs it
Where to find it: Your own executed main contract, the clauses on materials, off-site goods and any listed items.
Why I need it: Whether you may pay before delivery at all, and on what conditions
- G
Any client-directed or nominated suppliers
ImportantWithout it: A directed supplier is enquired to competitively, wasting their time and your, or is left out altogether
Where to find it: The employer's requirements, or your own framework arrangements.
Why I need it: They change the enquiry and remove the competition
Copies are fine. Send what you have and I'll tell you what's missing. Download the client request PDF or editable Word version to pass to whoever holds the files.
- A
I define the buy and the delivery position
I fix the goods, quantities and quality standard, then build delivery and call-off requirements from the construction programme.
I enquire and compare the quotes on one basis
I compare the quotes with delivery, call-off, storage and double-handling visible rather than hidden behind the total.
I test validity and ownership before delivery
I test each price validity period against the delivery dates and settle title or vesting where payment is required before delivery.
I recommend the supplier and order terms
I make the recommendation with the call-off and delivery terms needed for the goods to arrive on the required basis.
I hand over the supplier recommendation and order terms
Free Service Pack
A step-by-step Handbook, with the templates and working documents you need to carry out the work it covers yourself. You supply your own project information and records.
Follow the Handbook's scope and stopping points, and obtain independent advice where required. The pack is not project-specific advice or independent sign-off.