RLB’s annual Getting Closer to your Supply Chain*procurement trends survey provides a snapshot of market sentiment on procurement issues.

The 2022 report found that the use of frameworks continues to grow in importance – 75% of respondents are seeing fixed price durations decreasing, following the trend from last year of 77%.

There is a noticeable fall in use of single stage routes with a 10% fall in single stage and 7% increase in frameworks and 4% increase in use of two stage, possibly resulting from the Construction Playbook guidance, RLB suggests.

Negotiated tenders, frameworks and two stage projects are more frequently taking longer in procurement now than 12 months ago (between 40% and 55% of projects taking longer). Only 16% or less than 1 in 5 contractors are widening their supply chain to mitigate risk of supply side risks.

In the public sector, value-based contractor selection is now reported in 74% of projects and nearly 60% adopting the best practice of making explicit the project’s value selection criteria at tender stage. However, in the private sector only 54% of respondents are observing value-based selection criteria, and only 27% of projects making those criteria explicit.

Health and infrastructure sectors are looking particularly heated in procurement activity. Commercial fit out projects with budgets between £5m and £7.5m are seeing more competitive procurement activity.

BIM is still not being provided at tender stages, with only 28% of projects providing models in procurement.

Paul Beeston, partner at RLB UK, said: “In a heated procurement market, it comes as no real surprise that single stage routes to market are being dropped in favour of two stage and frameworks.  It is reassuring to see collaborative practices embraced both by clients making increased use of value-based selection criteria and by contractors’ responses to challenges in material availability.  Working collaboratively is the only way to achieve better procurement outcomes and more focus must be placed on the supply chain, in a challenging market such as this, to reduce the potential impacts on timing and cost.”

Findings:

• 54% of projects are using a design and build contract
• 27% of projects use two stage routes to market
• 20% of projects are currently negotiated
• 16% of contractors are widening supply chain to mitigate supply side risks
• 34% of projects are not selecting contractors on the basis of overall best value
• 71% of projects issuing Stage 4 design information with design and build tender documents

*www.rlb.com/europe/insight/procurement-trends-report-2022

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