The digital transformation of construction procurement
Watch the episode on YouTube right here!
Starting a conversation about procurement in construction might not sound like a recipe for excitement. But give it a minute. Because when you zoom in on what procurement really means in this industry, the endless Excel sheets, the email ping-pong, the scope confusion, the copy-paste chaos, you start to see the problem.
We created a podcast episode, ”The digital transformation of construction procurement,” featuring Paul Heming Co-Founder and CEO at C-Link. In this episode we discuss the practical realities of digital procurement, its challenges, and how it affects quantity surveyors across the board. From SMEs to tier-one contractors, the pressure is real. But so is the opportunity.
It’s not that construction is broken. As Paul Heming puts it, it’s that it could be done better.
Paul’s a quantity surveyor by trade, now a founder of a construction software company. He’s spent time in both small family-run subcontractors and on mega-projects like The Shard and Battersea Power Station.
His mission? To clean up procurement, or at least make it less of a black hole for data, time, and sanity.
In the following article, we’ll discuss:
- Standardization isn’t bureaucracy. It’s control.
- Digital maturity isn’t just a buzzword
- QSs are risk managers, not just spreadsheet wranglers
We need better workflows, not just better tech
Paul describes the traditional procurement process as a “long and winding path.”
QSs shuffle through Word, Excel, PDFs, OneDrive, Dropbox, WeTransfer – you name it. Tender out. Quote in. Addendum. Contract. Dispute. And somewhere in that mess, your audit trail disappears.
This isn’t just an SME problem. Tier-one contractors are dealing with the same issues. Paul recalls asking a major contractor to show their procurement data: “13 million pounds,” said the spreadsheet. That was it. No breakdown. No detail. No insight.
This kind of fragmentation wastes time and money. For QSs, it means spending up to a third of their time on mindless admin. That’s a whole day a week copying and pasting.
And when the industry is short 5,000 to 10,000 QSs, we can’t afford to be wasting their time.
Standardization isn’t bureaucracy. It’s control.
A key takeaway from the episode is the role of standardization. If every project starts from scratch, we create friction. But if we start with structured data, clear scopes, and reliable bills of quantities (BOQs), we don’t just work faster, we work smarter.
The lack of standardized BOQs, for instance, has become a quiet epidemic.
The task of quantity take-off, once handled by clients and PQSs, has been handed down the chain – first to the main contractor, then the subbie. The result? Guesswork, inflated prices, and disputes.
With more clients focused on carbon and lifecycle analysis, knowing your quantities is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s critical.
And let’s face it: measurement shouldn’t be a QS’s main job. Processing, interpreting, and strategizing around the data? That’s where they shine.
Digital maturity isn’t just a buzzword
It used to be that if you mentioned “digital maturity” in a construction meeting, people would laugh. Today, the conversation has shifted. COVID played a huge role in normalizing remote meetings, digital documents, and online collaboration.
But technology doesn’t solve problems on its own. As Paul puts it, “software won’t solve your problems unless you know what they are.”
For SMEs in particular, this can be a superpower. They’re nimble. They can implement change without a 12-month procurement process. If they can identify their pain points, set policies, and choose the right tools, they can leapfrog bigger players stuck in outdated systems.
The advice? Don’t start with the software. Start with the problem. Then involve your team. Then implement.
QSs are risk managers, not just spreadsheet wranglers
This one hits home. Too often, QSs are bogged down in admin, isolated from the site, and disconnected from the people they’re supposed to be managing.
Paul’s view? Let technology free up time so QSs can build relationships, walk the site, and do the work that matters. That means more time understanding the interfaces, verifying scopes, and managing claims with insight – not just data.
Because ultimately, construction is still a relationships business. Digital tools should support that, not replace it.
So, where do we go from here?
For quantity surveyors at all levels, whether you’re fresh out of university or leading a regional team, the path forward involves:
- Embracing digital tools that align with clear goals
- Standardizing scopes and documents early
- Prioritizing relationship-building
And for both SMEs and large firms, the message is the same: Don’t digitize for the sake of it. Digitize with purpose.
It might just save your margins – and your Monday mornings.