School Procurement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

School Procurement - Essay Example It should be completed after a period of seventy two weeks. The report will also look at other alternative procurement routes and give their disadvantages. It will also examine the steps to be followed for effective project implementation (ETWB, 2004) From these differences, arises a number of procurement processes. The first alternative is 'competitive tendering/ develop and construct' under this scheme, the school can be designed by Southumberland County together with the community and then tendered to a principle contractor. The other route maybe 'design and build' which allows for design and construction by a principle contractor. There is also the 'construction management' procurement system which allows the client (in this case Southumberland County) to work hand in hand with a principle contractor who constructs the building while the client manages the construction process. Under the PFI procurement route, operations are done within a fixed price range. This amount is arrived at by considering inflation rate for the past twenty five and thirty years. If the contractor fails to meet his/her deadline then a penalty will have to be paid. This means that the PFI scheme is subject to inflation rate changes because costs of implementing the project will be subject to inflation changes yet the unitary payment will be changed at a different rate. An alternative like the design and build route arrives at its charges without consideration of inflation rates. 2.12 Unforeseen expenses If the project happens to the superseded its time limits, then extra costs will be incurred. These costs are met by the contractor and he will be the one on the loosing because it will minimize his profits. In contrast, however, another scheme like the design and build route leaves the maintenance of extra costs to the project initiator. This would not be economical for the County. 2.13 Defects on building In the PFI scheme, the risk of any defects found in the completed building will rest solely on the contractor. This implies that the contractor will do his best to ensure that he produces a quality product to avoid deductions that will have to be made on the unitary payment which the Southumberland County is going to pay. However, the design and build route has a time frame within which the employer can charge for defects. After that time frame, any defects will have to be settled by the employer. (Henderson Global Investors, 2003) 2.14 Value for money This scheme provides value for money because costs and risks are moved from the project initiator to the private contractor. Normally the unitary amount that is calculated prior to project work is slightly on the high side. Because there are a number of expenses that will be incurred along the way, this increase is fair. Develop and build under the PFI scheme allows the project initiator to get value for his money since he is free from any of the following risks: general maintenance, latent defects, construction overruns, management time and