Preconstruction is all planning work that happens before building starts. As Collins English Dictionary states, it means "construction in advance" or activities "carried out prior to construction."
In practical terms, preconstruction includes defining what needs to be built, identifying potential problems, creating schedules, estimating costs, securing permits, and assembling the project team. This critical phase prevents costly delays, budget overruns, and safety issues during the actual build.
At Thornton & Lowe, we support preconstruction teams with specialist bid writing services, tender preparation, and recruitment of key preconstruction professionals.
UK Requirements for Preconstruction Information
Under the CDM Regulations 2015, preconstruction information (PCI) is a legal requirement in the UK. Clients must provide this information to designers and contractors at the earliest opportunity.
The PCI must include project details such as location, nature, purpose and timeframe; client requirements and expectations; existing site information including surveys, ground conditions and utilities; environmental constraints and considerations; design hazards and risk management approaches; and arrangements for managing health and safety during construction.
For multi-contractor projects, the principal designer typically helps the client compile this information. Failure to provide adequate PCI can result in HSE enforcement action, including prohibition notices or fines. The information should be presented in a format that is easy to understand and use, often comprising both text and visual elements such as site plans and survey drawings.
A feasibility study determines whether a construction project makes financial and practical sense before significant investment occurs. It examines financial viability and return on investment potential, technical requirements and construction approach options, current market conditions affecting material and labour costs, and planning and regulatory requirements specific to the location.
This process helps clients make informed decisions about whether to proceed with a project, modify the scope, or avoid a potentially unprofitable venture. For complex projects, feasibility studies often consider phasing options that allow for more manageable funding and risk profiles.
Site Inspection and Analysis
A thorough site inspection identifies critical factors that will impact design and construction. This includes ground conditions and soil stability, existing structures or underground utilities, environmental considerations like drainage and contamination, access constraints and logistical challenges, and neighbouring properties and boundary issues.
These insights prevent unexpected discoveries during construction that typically cause delays and budget overruns. Site analysis reports form a crucial part of the project documentation and inform risk assessments throughout the project lifecycle.
Design Development
Design development refines initial concepts into detailed, buildable plans. This collaborative process involves coordinating architectural, structural, and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) systems, resolving conflicts between different building elements before construction, developing technical specifications for materials and systems, ensuring the design meets regulatory requirements, and creating construction details that address site-specific challenges.
Thorough design development prevents costly redesign work during construction. Regular design review meetings during preconstruction allow all stakeholders to provide input and identify potential issues before they become expensive problems during the build phase.
Regulatory Compliance and Permits
In the UK construction industry, various approvals are required before work can begin. These include planning permission from local authorities, building regulations approval, CDM (Construction Design and Management) compliance, and specialist permits for heritage buildings, environmental impact, or highways work.
The preconstruction team must identify all required approvals and build adequate time into the project schedule to obtain them. Early engagement with regulatory authorities often yields valuable insights that can inform design decisions and prevent costly revisions later in the process.
Construction Scheduling
Effective scheduling requires breaking the project into logical sequences of work while accounting for dependencies between different activities. Schedulers must consider realistic durations based on crew sizes and productivity rates, material delivery lead times, weather considerations for sensitive activities, and coordination with utility companies and other external parties.
Using critical path methodology, schedulers identify which activities directly impact the completion date, allowing the team to focus resources where they matter most. The most effective construction schedules include contingency time for high-risk activities and are regularly updated throughout the preconstruction phase as design details are refined.
Cost Estimating and Budgeting
Accurate cost estimating combines historical data with current market intelligence. This involves material quantity takeoffs based on design documents, current material pricing from suppliers, labour costs based on productivity rates and local wage scales, subcontractor quotes for specialist work, allowances for preliminaries, overheads, and profit, and contingency funds for risk items.
The resulting budget becomes the financial baseline for monitoring project performance. During preconstruction, estimates are typically refined at key design stages, becoming increasingly accurate as more details are established. Early cost planning helps identify potential budget challenges and informs value engineering decisions.
Preconstruction Services Fees: What to Expect
The cost of preconstruction services varies based on project complexity and scope of services required. The table below shows typical fee ranges in the UK construction industry:
Project Size
Basic Services
Comprehensive Services
Typical Fee Structure
Small (<£500K)
0.7-1.0%
1.5-2.0%
Fixed fee or hourly rate
Medium (£500K-£5M)
0.5-0.8%
1.0-1.5%
Percentage of construction cost
Large (£5M-£20M)
0.4-0.6%
0.8-1.2%
Percentage with fee cap
Major (>£20M)
0.3-0.5%
0.6-1.0%
Negotiated percentage with fee cap
At Thornton & Lowe, we specialise in bid writing services and tender preparation, working directly with preconstruction teams to develop winning proposals. We understand the financial pressures of the preconstruction phase and provide cost-effective support that enhances your competitive position without adding unnecessary overhead.
We also help construction companies recruit qualified Preconstruction Directors, Managers, and bid specialists, understanding that having the right talent is crucial for preconstruction success. Our recruitment services are tailored to the specific needs of construction firms involved in competitive tendering.
The Construction Phase Plan: Bridging Planning and Building
The construction phase plan translates preconstruction planning into actionable guidance for the project team. Required under CDM 2015 regulations, this plan details how health and safety will be managed during construction.
A comprehensive construction phase plan includes site rules and induction procedures, access and traffic management arrangements, site security measures, storage of materials and waste management, control measures for significant health and safety risks, emergency procedures and first aid provisions, welfare facilities, and site-specific training requirements.
For complex projects, the plan will also detail phasing of works, temporary works requirements, and interface management between different contractors. The principal contractor is responsible for preparing the construction phase plan before work begins on site. The level of detail should be proportionate to the project's risks and complexity.
The construction phase plan serves as the primary reference document for site management and is often supplemented by method statements for specific high-risk activities. Regular reviews and updates ensure the plan remains relevant as the project progresses.
How Thornton & Lowe Supports Your Preconstruction Success
At Thornton & Lowe, we work closely with preconstruction teams to strengthen their bid preparation and submission process. While we don't handle technical cost estimation or design development, we provide crucial support that enhances your ability to win work.
Research and Bid Strategy
We conduct thorough analysis of tender documents to identify evaluation criteria and scoring methodologies, client priorities, potential risks that should be addressed in your bid, and opportunities to highlight your competitive advantages.
This research helps preconstruction teams focus their limited time on creating responses that will score highest during evaluation. Our strategic approach considers both explicit requirements and implicit preferences that can influence bid decisions, giving you insight into what will make your proposal stand out from competitors.
Framework Support
Framework agreements represent significant long-term opportunities but involve complex procurement processes. We provide practical guidance on framework-specific compliance requirements, strategies for mini-competition responses, KPI reporting mechanisms, and building effective client relationships within frameworks. Our preparation support also includes identifying the right construction frameworks for your business.
Our framework expertise helps contractors navigate these procurement mechanisms and secure a steady pipeline of work. We keep abreast of changes to major construction frameworks in the UK, ensuring our clients have the latest information on opportunities and requirements.
Bid Writing and Tender Documentation
Our professional bid writers transform technical information into compelling narratives that address the client's specific priorities and concerns, clearly explain your technical approach in accessible language, highlight your innovations and added value, and demonstrate your understanding of project-specific challenges.
We ensure your bid documents meet all compliance requirements, including formatting specifications, word count limitations, and submission procedures. Our attention to detail helps prevent administrative rejections that can eliminate even technically excellent proposals from consideration.
Recruitment Support
Finding qualified preconstruction professionals is increasingly challenging in today's construction market. We help companies identify and attract Preconstruction Directors who can lead strategic bid decisions, Estimators with sector-specific expertise, Bid Managers capable of coordinating complex proposals, and Proposal Writers who can create compelling tender responses.
Our construction industry network and understanding of preconstruction roles allow us to connect organisations with professionals who can drive bidding success. We focus on finding candidates with the right combination of technical knowledge and commercial acumen needed for effective preconstruction work. This recruitment service forms part of our Bid Resource division.
While our main focus at Thornton & Lowe has always been supporting small and medium-sized businesses, our reputation for effective bid writing and strategic advice has also attracted larger clients within the construction sector. We have delivered tailored bid writing courses and bid support to numerous tier 1 contractors, blue-chip companies, and major organisations, helping their teams enhance bid strategies and improve tender outcomes.
Organisations we've supported include:
Balfour Beatty
BAM Construction
Kier
Novus
Eric Wright Construction
Anglian Group
Our training sessions are interactive, practical, and designed around the specific needs of each organisation. For example, Jodie Boast, Bid & Proposals Coordinator at Eric Wright Construction, said:
“Charles provided some bid training at our company for the bid team and directors. I thought the training was fantastic. It flowed well, and Charles kept it interactive and informative. It really helped the team understand the bid processes that sometimes can be missed. Charles explained the importance of bidding and showed us how some vital things that can be overlooked can lead to the winning bid. Friendly and approachable - a great session!”
"I would like to take the time thank you and your team for all the support with the Tender Bid. You have some talented people working for you and they are credit to your business." - Martin Tweddle, General Manager, DSD Construction
In addition to this we also partner with the National Federation of Builders to provide their members tendering and procurement advice, support and training. It is often at the preconstruction stage we are engaged.
Construction Client Wins - Examples
Our clients have achieved success in construction, infrastructure, and utilities bids for organisations including Transport for Greater Manchester, North West Construction Hub, Peak District National Park, NHS SBS, ESPO, Fusion21, Crown Commercial Service (CCS), central government buyers such as HMRC, as well as numerous local authorities including Manchester City Council, Birmingham City Council, Sunderland Council, Lancashire County Council, and housing associations such as Bolton at Home, Your Housing Group, Together Housing Group, and utilities companies such as United Utilities, Northumbrian Water, Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Severn Trent Water.
Our goal is always to equip teams with the necessary skills and knowledge to approach bidding strategically, confidently, and successfully.
