Pre-Construction Society

Overview

Pre construction is the field of activity where projects are developed from design through to the start of construction on site. The individual roles include design co-ordination, estimating, planning and procurement, as well as extending to include the sales, marketing, legal and financial aspects on PFI projects. The output of pre construction is usually in the form of tenders or proposals to clients, detailing cost and value, time and design proposals, with the addition of legal submissions and financial proposals if required.

The pre construction process ranges in its depth and complexity depending on the scale of a particular project. Traditional tendering is still very widely used, on simple one off projects. For these the pre construction input often takes place within a time frame of four week or less. With the growth of design and build and PFI forms of procurement however, the pre construction period can take many months and require contractors to employ large multi skilled teams to ensure that all the client’s needs are met.

Contemporary pre construction is a demanding and interesting field of activity: less measuring and counting, more creative design development, detailed planning and sophisticated management. Lateral thinking is very much in demand. Clients view the pre construction stage of a contract as crucial to the success of a project and want contractors’ input at an early stage to fine tune the design and methodology. This results in significant time savings and increased value of the final product. The pre construction environment calls for computer literate, adaptable and motivated professionals with creative and entrepreneurial skills who are keen to bring new ideas to today’s demanding projects.

We are in a period of change in pre construction. The demand is there but the methods and the people to deliver the solutions need to be found. The basics of estimating and planning still need to be done but methods are advancing apace. Computer aided design (CAD) has reached the stage where concept designs can be turned into detailed designs by intelligent programmes in a matter of hours. Measurement will be a function of CAD, with contractors manipulating the data at present generated by the design team to produce bills of quantities without a scale rule in sight.
Getting smart is the name of the game. Contractors must innovate or die. Pre construction is the field that can most benefit from such change, and change will be brought about by people joining the profession now.

Aims and Objectives

Education

• To work with education establishments to provide students with a sound background in pre construction methods
  
• To provide educational opportunities for members in new management techniques, existing best practice and developments in IT
  

Communication

• To promote the pre construction professions
  
• To promote our society through events – both educational and social – and articles in the trade press
  
• To promote new methods and a client oriented approach in pre construction management