A guide for selecting the appropriate procurement method for a project based on client's criteria

It is an axiom of construction management that a project may be regarded as successful if the building is delivered at the right time, at the appropriate price and quality standard, and achieving a high level of client satisfaction. Increasingly, the achievement of these criteria has been associated with the problem of procurement methods. In short the selection of the appropriate method can shape the success of the project. Procurement method is a mechanism for linking members of the building team together in a special communicating relational network throughout the building process from design right through to construction and completion. This relationship is both functional and contractual: functional via roles, authority and power; contractual via responsibilities and risks. This paper is based on an MSc dissertation by Pour (2010). It presents and analyses data obtained from a questionnaire-based survey carried out amongst professionals working in the UK construction industry regarding the selection of building procurement methods. 11 utility factors were established from 33 professional practitioners and a multi-attribute decision-making model was developed using Microsoft Excel. This model provides a mechanism that allows procurement methods to be assessed against a set of possible client requirements, by rating how well the procurement method can satisfy those needs. Clients and consultants can use this model to decide which procurement method is the most suitable for their projects.