Construction Procurement Reform

Welcome to the Construction Procurement Reform website

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is responsible for implementing national policy on public procurement, particularly in relation to construction procurement. The Department’s website: constructionprocurement.gov.ie has been specifically developed to implement the key outputs of the Government Decision of May 2004 in relation to the reform of public sector construction procurement. The main objectives of this reform initiative are:

Cost certainty at tender award stage

Better value for money (VFM), and

More efficient delivery of public works projects

The reform is one of a number of key value for money measures announced by the Minister on 20 October 2005 and has been put in place to help address concerns about the extent of cost overruns (i.e. the increase in project cost between the accepted tender price and the final outturn cost) on public works and consultancy contracts, and to eliminate such cost overruns through better planning and greater use of works contracts and conditions of engagement by means of optimal risk transfer to contractors and consultants who are best placed to manage and control such risks.

This site consists of a Capital Works Management Framework which contains an integrated set of contractual provisions, guidance material and technical procedures which covers all aspects of the delivery process of a public works project from inception to final project delivery and review. Please check the News page for recent updates. The structure of this strategic framework is closely aligned and compliments the Capital Appraisal Guidelines issued by the Department of Finance.

The Capital Works Management Framework is for the use by contracting authorities involved in the expenditure of public funds on construction projects and related consultancy services. The use of the framework should result in a more cost effective delivery of public works projects because of the more systematic and detailed approach to, among other things, planning (both preparatory and detailed), capital budgeting as well as design and construction cost control.