Pre-construction activities

The traditional method of procuring a construction project where the employer and its design team finalise their requirements first and then send the documents out to contractors for them to submit tenders is being used less frequently. The rise in different forms of procurement and the need to reduce pre-construction timetables, combined with a realisation that early contractor involvement can be very useful, has resulted in the increasing use of forms of pre-construction agreements and two stage tendering. Two regularly used forms of agreement utilised before a building contract is entered into are letters of intent and 'Pre-Construction Services Agreements' (PCSAs).

Other issues of significance during the pre-construction stages of a project include demolition and ground conditions.

Letters of intent

A letter of intent is essentially a written expression of a party's intention to enter into a contract at a later stage. Traditionally, the advice given to employers has been not to enter into letters of intent if possible, ie to avoid entering into contractual relations, until all of the proposed contract terms are agreed. As letters of intent are by their nature very brief, litigation frequently arises

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