Procurement, site and quality

46 terms in procurement, site and quality

Procurement (construction)

Procurement is the process of buying the job, converting the estimate into real orders, subcontracts and deliveries. It is where estimated margin becomes real margin or quietly disappears, through the commitment workflow that runs from budget to purchase order to invoice match. Procurement reference. See also: Purchase order.

Purchase order(PO)

A purchase order is the document that commits the job to buy defined goods or work at a defined price, the commitment layer of cost control. Spend without an order is invisible until the invoice arrives, and the PO is the anchor the supplier invoice is later matched against. Purchase orders reference. See also: Committed costs, Invoice matching.

Request for quote(RFQ)

A request for quote is the process of sending one documentation set to every bidder for a trade package so the returned prices can be compared like for like. It differs from a tender mainly in formality; the discipline of a single consistent scope is the same. RFQ and quote levelling reference. See also: Quote levelling.

Quote levelling

Quote levelling is adjusting returned quotes to a common scope in a levelling table, pricing each bidder’s gaps and inclusions so the comparison is genuine. The cheapest number on the page is frequently not the cheapest quote once levelled. RFQ and quote levelling reference.

Trade package

A trade package is a bundle of work scoped for one trade or supplier, carved from the estimate’s cost structure. The gaps between packages become the variations and disputes nobody priced, which is why package boundaries deserve as much attention as package contents. Trade packages reference. See also: Scope of works.

Scope of works

A scope of works is the written definition of what a trade package includes and excludes, the attendances the builder provides, and the drawings it is based on listed by revision. It is the document that decides later whether something was in the price or is a variation. Trade packages reference.

Attendance item

An attendance item is something the builder provides so a trade can perform its work, commonly scaffold, temporary power, cranage, site amenities and waste removal. Each attendance should be priced exactly once, usually in the preliminaries, with every trade scope stating which attendances the builder supplies. Trade packages reference. See also: Preliminaries.

Invoice matching

Invoice matching verifies a supplier invoice before payment. A two-way match holds the invoice against the purchase order; a three-way match adds the delivery record so payment is also tied to what physically arrived. Most builders run three-way matching on materials and two-way on services and subcontract work. Invoice matching reference. See also: Purchase order, Delivery docket.

Delivery docket

A delivery docket is the record of what physically arrived on site, signed at the gate. It is the third leg of a three-way invoice match, and a signature given without checking the load converts a short delivery into a paid invoice. Invoice matching reference.

Credit claim

A credit claim is the request to a supplier for a credit note when an invoice does not match what was ordered or delivered, a price variance, a short delivery or a return. An unmatched invoice parked without a credit claim is how small losses become permanent. Invoice matching reference.

Trade account

A trade account is the credit account a builder holds with a merchant or supplier, governed by the credit application’s terms. Those terms, credit limits, payment terms, retention of title and often a directors’ guarantee, are the contract behind every delivery. General information, not legal advice. Materials supply terms reference. See also: Directors’ guarantee.

Directors’ guarantee

A directors’ guarantee, or personal guarantee, is a promise by an individual, usually a company director, to personally cover the company’s debts to a supplier if the company does not pay. It commonly sits inside merchant credit applications, and it removes the protection the company structure would otherwise give the director for that account. General information, not legal advice. Materials supply terms reference.

Retention of title(ROT)

Retention of title is a supply term under which the supplier continues to own goods until they are paid for, even after delivery to site. It is a different concept from contract retention on subcontract payments, and its practical force comes from registration on the PPSR. General information, not legal advice. PPSR and retention of title reference. See also: PPSR, Retention.

Personal Property Securities Register(PPSR)

The Personal Property Securities Register is the national register on which security interests over goods, including suppliers’ retention of title claims, are recorded. Suppliers register against building companies as standard practice, and the register decides who keeps the goods when a supplier or a builder becomes insolvent. General information, not legal advice. PPSR and retention of title reference. See also: Retention of title.

Back order

A back order is the undelivered balance of an order the supplier could not fulfil in one delivery. Untracked back orders surface as missing materials on the day a trade needs them, which is why receiving records matter as much as ordering records. Materials supply terms reference.

Product substitution

Product substitution is a supplier or trade providing a different product from the one specified or ordered, sometimes under an or-equivalent clause. Unless the contract defines what equivalence means and who approves the substitute, the choice defaults to whoever is supplying, and their incentive is cost. Specifications reference.

Price validity

Price validity is the period a supplier holds quoted prices firm before escalation can apply. Supply terms set validity and escalation rights, and a job priced today and built next year needs both understood before the contract is signed. Materials supply terms reference.

Call-forward schedule

A call-forward schedule is the working list that connects the build programme to the buying. For every package and made-to-order item it records the need-on-site date, the confirmed lead time, the derived order-by date, the prerequisites and the current status. Some builders call it a procurement schedule or a materials schedule. Procurement and schedule alignment reference. See also: Need-on-site date.

Client selections

Client selections are the finishes, fittings and products a client chooses through a build, managed against a selection schedule with deadlines tied to the programme. Late or undocumented selections are one of the most common causes of delays and variations on a residential job. Selections management reference. See also: Allowance.

Drawing revision

A drawing revision is an updated issue of a drawing, identified by a revision code, that supersedes the previous set. A revision that stays in someone’s inbox is a superseded set on site, and revision control is the propagation protocol that keeps everyone working from one current set. Drawing revision control guide.

Single source of truth

A single source of truth is the discipline of keeping one current, authoritative version of each document or record, with everything else clearly superseded. On a building job it is what makes the document trail usable as the job’s memory at dispute, warranty and handover. Construction documents reference.

Hold point

A hold point is a stage where work stops until an inspection is passed, chosen to fall before the work is covered up, waterproofing before tiling, reinforcement before the pour. At a hold point a problem is visible and cheap to fix; after cover-up, finding it means demolishing good work. Quality assurance reference. See also: Mandatory inspections.

Quality assurance(QA)

Quality assurance is assuring quality during the build rather than inspecting for defects after it, through hold points, checklists and quality records that prove work was done right. It differs from defect management, which reacts to failures QA exists to prevent. Quality assurance reference.

Safe Work Method Statement(SWMS)

A Safe Work Method Statement is the document WHS regulations require for high-risk construction work, setting out the work, its hazards and the controls that will manage them. It must reflect the actual job and be reviewed by a competent person, not filed as paperwork. General information, not safety or legal advice. Site safety feature. See also: WHS management plan.

WHS management plan

A WHS management plan is the site-wide safety plan WHS regulations require the principal contractor to prepare for construction projects above the regulatory threshold, covering responsibilities, arrangements and the register of SWMS for the job. General information, not safety or legal advice. Site safety feature. See also: Safe Work Method Statement.

Contracts administrator(CA)

The contracts administrator is the role that runs the commercial side of live jobs, subcontracts and orders, variations, claims and the paperwork that connects site to accounts. In a small builder the same responsibilities exist, just carried by fewer people. Company structure reference.

Site supervisor

The site supervisor is the role responsible for the day-to-day running of a job on site, sequencing trades, checking quality, keeping the diary and holding the programme. Supervisor capacity, the number of jobs one supervisor can genuinely run, is one of the real constraints on a builder’s growth. Company structure reference.

Inspection and test plan(ITP)

An inspection and test plan lists the inspections and tests a scope of work must pass, at what point, by whom, and against what standard, marking each as a hold point or a witness point. It turns quality from a hope into a checklist, and the signed records it produces are the evidence the work was built right. Quality assurance reference. See also: Hold point, Witness point.

Witness point

A witness point is a stage where a nominated party is invited to inspect the work but, unlike a hold point, the work may proceed if they do not attend within the notice period. It gives oversight without stopping the job, and the distinction from a hold point is exactly what may and may not carry on without a sign-off. Quality assurance reference. See also: Hold point.

Non-conformance report(NCR)

A non-conformance report records work that does not meet the specification, drawings or standards, the proposed fix, and its close-out once resolved. It is the formal counterpart to a quiet on-site correction, and the register of NCRs is part of the quality record a job carries to handover. Quality assurance reference. See also: Defect.

As-built drawings

As-built drawings are drawings updated to show what was actually constructed, including the changes made during the build. They matter most for concealed services and structure, because the next person to work on the home relies on them to find what is behind the linings. Construction documents reference. See also: Shop drawings.

Shop drawings

Shop drawings are the detailed fabrication and installation drawings a trade or supplier prepares from the design, for items such as cabinetry, steel, trusses and windows. Reviewing and approving them before manufacture is a hold point in its own right, because an error caught on the shop drawing is cheap and the same error caught on site is not. Construction documents reference. See also: As-built drawings.

Set-out

Set-out is marking the position of the building and its elements on the site from the survey and the drawings, so the work is built in the right place and square. An error in the set-out propagates into every stage that follows, which is why it is checked before anything is poured. Quality assurance reference. See also: Datum.

Datum

A datum, or benchmark, is a fixed reference point of known level on or near a site from which all heights on the job are set. Every finished floor level, drainage fall and ceiling height is measured from it, so a job works to one agreed datum to keep those levels consistent. Quality assurance reference. See also: Set-out.

Snag list

A snag list, also called a punch list, is the list of small incomplete or defective items found on a walk-through near completion, each to be finished before sign-off. It overlaps with the defects list at practical completion, and one agreed list with owners and dates is what turns it into a workflow rather than an argument. Defects management reference. See also: Defects list.

Commissioning

Commissioning is testing that installed systems, such as plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, work as intended before the home is handed over. The commissioning records join the operation and maintenance manuals in the handover pack, so the owner receives proof the systems were tested, not just installed. Practical completion reference. See also: Operation and maintenance manual.

Operation and maintenance manual(O&M)

An operation and maintenance manual is the compiled set of instructions, warranties and product data for the systems and finishes in a completed home, handed to the owner so they can run and maintain it. Assembling it through the build rather than at the end is what makes a handover organised rather than a scramble. Practical completion reference. See also: Handover.

Building tolerances

Building tolerances are the allowable deviations from a specified dimension or finish, the line between acceptable work and a defect. Australian guidance such as state guides to standards and tolerances is commonly used to judge them, and the current guide for the relevant jurisdiction is the reference. General information, not compliance advice. Defects management reference. See also: Defect.

Services rough-in

Rough-in is the first-fix stage where the concealed parts of the services, plumbing pipes, electrical cabling and ducting, are installed before the walls and floors are closed up. It is inspected as a hold point because it disappears behind the linings, and an error found after cover-up means opening finished work to reach it. Quality assurance reference. See also: First fix and second fix.

First fix and second fix

First fix is the work done before the internal linings go on, such as framing, rough-in and anything that will be concealed, while second fix is the finishing work installed after lining and painting, such as tapware, switches, doors and skirting. The two-stage rhythm is how trades return to a job, and mixing up which stage a task belongs to is a common sequencing error. Lead times reference. See also: Services rough-in.

Wet trades

Wet trades are the trades that work with water-based or curing materials, concreting, bricklaying, rendering, screeding, tiling and plastering, whose work needs time to dry or cure before the next trade can follow. Their curing times are real dependencies in the programme, not delays, which is why rushing them shows up later as cracking or failure. Lead times reference.

Principal contractor

The principal contractor is the work health and safety role for the party with management and control of a construction workplace, carrying duties such as preparing the WHS management plan for projects above the regulatory threshold. It is a safety concept distinct from the contract principal, and the duties are set by the WHS laws in each jurisdiction. General information, not safety or legal advice. Site safety feature. See also: WHS management plan, Principal (contract).

Sample and prototype

A sample is a piece of a product or finish provided for approval before the full quantity is ordered, and a prototype or mock-up is a trial assembly built to prove a detail before it is repeated. Approving them against the specification early is what stops a whole order or a repeated detail being wrong. Specifications reference. See also: Specification.

Site induction

A site induction is the briefing every worker receives before starting on a site, covering the specific hazards, rules and emergency arrangements of that job. It is a standard work health and safety control, recorded so it can be shown who was inducted and when. General information, not safety advice. Site safety feature. See also: White Card.

White Card

A White Card, from general construction induction training, is the credential a worker must hold to carry out construction work in Australia. It is site-entry training separate from the job-specific site induction, and the current requirements and recognition between states should be confirmed with the relevant regulator. General information, not safety advice. Site safety feature. See also: Site induction.

Toolbox talk

A toolbox talk is a short, regular on-site meeting where the crew discusses the day’s or week’s hazards and safe methods before work starts. Recording who attended and what was covered turns a routine conversation into part of the site’s safety record. General information, not safety advice. Site safety feature. See also: Safe Work Method Statement.