Construction - Managing a Design and Build Contract

Review the client's Employer's Requirements in detail and identify any ambiguities before pricing. Request written clarifications on anything that could be interpreted in more than one way - unclear ERs create cost risk that the contractor carries.

Prepare a fixed-price proposal covering the full scope of design and construction. Include design team input, identify allowances for unresolved design information, and set out the process for valuing employer change instructions.

Set up the project with the contract sum, programme dates, and stage payment schedule. Confirm design team appointments and establish the design information submission and approval process to keep procurement and construction on programme.

Issue RFQs to specialist sub-contractors and suppliers as design information is finalised. Coordinate procurement with the design programme so sub-trades are priced against confirmed information. Raise purchase orders with clear scope references.

Track construction progress against the agreed programme using milestone management. Identify early any design delays that could compress the build programme. Issue Works Orders to sub-contractors for specific trade packages and monitor progress.

Manage employer change instructions through a formal log. Price and agree each instruction in writing before the additional work starts. Unvalued instructions create recovery risk that compounds over the life of the project.

Issue the final invoice on practical completion, including all agreed variations. Produce the contractual handover documentation - as-built drawings, O&M manuals, and warranties - and record what has been formally handed over and accepted.

Record defects notified by the employer during the Defects Liability Period using site forms and track resolution status. On expiry of the DLP, confirm all notified defects are resolved and trigger the release of retention held under the contract.

The fixed price includes design risk that may not be fully resolved at tender stage - unforeseen design changes erode the contract sum before construction begins, and the contractor carries the cost unless a formal Change Instruction is raised.

Sub-contractors are often priced against incomplete design information, creating scope gaps that surface mid-construction and require additional expenditure that was not in the original tender.

Verbal instructions from the employer during construction are common but difficult to price and recover later - capturing every instruction in writing at the time it is given is essential to protecting the contract sum.