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Session 2121

A Study on Materials Procurement and Management for Small Companies

Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, John DiMilia SUNY Farmingdale, NY 11735

Introduction

Materials procurement and management is an integral part of the building process. Materials affect every aspect of a construction project. 1 However, smaller companies have little to no material procurement and management systems. As a result these companies incur additional but avoidable costs. Some of these costs are due to; a)large delivery times for materials, b) excess ordering of material, c) paying premium price for materials, d) lack of tracking of materials, e) lack of communication with material specifiers. The objective of this study was to collect data from small construction companies on their procurement practices and produce a set of common procedures that may be used by such companies.

Materials Specification and Submittals

Material specification is a description of materials that are agreed to be used in a construction project by the architect/engineer and owners. In most cases construction materials are specified from materials catalogues and past practices. Problem with this procedure is the materials specified may not be readily available.

A material submitted is the contractor’s proposal to approving authority a list of materials to be used in the project. A material submittal confirms that the contractor is using materials specified or approved equals. Approved equals are materials that are considered functionally and qualitywise equivalent to the materials specified.

Materials Ordering Process for Small Projects

Materials quoting or obtaining prices for materials start with the bidding process for a job. Most contractors acquire one to three price quotes for materials. Sometimes contractors use their own database for prices. Once the contractor is awarded the job, the contractor provides the architect/engineer with the material submittal. The majority of the contractors surveyed obtained three to six estimates on materials. Ordering was done via telephone or facsimile. In person ordering was performed some of the times. The main reason for picking a material supplier was prompt delivery ad best price.

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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DiMilia, J., & Bandyopadhyay, A. (2002, June), A Study On Materials Procurement And Management For Small Construction Companies Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10332