Value engineering on a construction project is one of the more misunderstood commercial activities. The version that gets done at cost-plan stage, focused on line-by-line specification substitutions, produces marginal savings and often marginal defects. The version that gets done at pre-construction stage, focused on how packages interact and how the scheme is procured, produces savings that are structural and durable.
The distinction matters because most developers approach value engineering as a late-stage exercise once the cost plan is being finalised. At that point, the design decisions that create most of the cost are locked. The only remaining moves are specification-level substitutions, which typically produce small savings at the expense of slightly reduced performance in the substituted element. Nobody is delighted with the outcome.
Pre-construction value engineering, done at the point when packages are still being scoped and procurement approach is still being decided, produces different kinds of savings. Interface simplification between trades removes coordination cost. Sequencing optimisation across packages reduces total programme time. Consolidation of overlapping scope items eliminates duplicate purchase. Materials substitution at design stage rather than at cost-plan stage protects performance while capturing the saving.
Multi-discipline groups are structurally well-placed to do this kind of value engineering because they can see across the packages they will deliver. A scaffold-only contractor cannot recommend integrating scaffold with roofing because they do not deliver roofing. A group that delivers both can recommend the integrated procurement approach and quantify the saving.
The Globe Group’s pre-construction engagement with developer clients typically includes a value engineering conversation at scheme initiation stage rather than at cost-plan finalisation. Where the group is delivering multiple packages, opportunities to integrate scope, remove interface friction and sequence more efficiently are identified before the tenders are issued rather than after they are received.
The savings from this pre-construction work are typically larger than the savings from late-stage line-by-line VE, and they do not carry the performance cost. A developer who removes a coordination overhead of half a percent of scheme cost through pre-construction integration keeps the performance of every material specification. A developer who saves the same amount at cost-plan stage through specification substitution has accepted marginal performance reductions across multiple materials.
There is also a programme dimension. Pre-construction value engineering that improves the sequencing of packages produces programme benefits as well as cost benefits. A scheme that is procured for integrated delivery from the outset runs on a tighter overall programme than a scheme that is procured for competitive individual packages and then coordinated retrospectively.
For QSs and commercial directors evaluating whether to invest time in pre-construction VE, the practical test is what savings are actually available at that stage that would not be available later. Where the answer is meaningful (typically two to five percent of scheme cost on a multi-package housing development), the investment pays back quickly. Where the answer is marginal, the exercise is not worth the effort.
The determining factor is usually whether the specialist suppliers involved can genuinely see across packages. Where they can, the pre-construction VE produces real opportunities. Where they cannot, it produces generic recommendations that the developer’s own team could have generated.
The Globe Group’s pre-construction engagements produce documented VE proposals as part of the initial commercial conversation, not as a promise for later. That gives the developer a clear view of what the group’s proposed procurement approach saves versus a conventional multi-package tender before committing to the arrangement.
Talk to the Globe Group To discuss pre-construction value engineering across packages on your scheme, contact the Globe Group on 01223 890727 or email enquiries@theglobegroup.co.uk.
