Early procurement and the long-lead register: what to order before the main contract

At a glance

Illustrative, not a forecast. No period is given because each belongs to the piece, the workshop and the date. Stone, glass, ironmongery and COM are on our lead times page’s long-lead list; the other rows are our reading.

Early package or main package

Designing Buildings defines a long lead-time item as one where the period between order and delivery is long enough to harm the project, or long enough that it has to be ordered well in advance (page last edited 23 January 2021). It adds that such items are sometimes ordered before contractors are appointed so that they do not delay the programme, and that components with long lead times often need approved production drawings before they can be ordered. That last point is what this sheet is built on: ordering early moves the design deadline forward. A group of such items bought ahead of the main contract is an early procurement package.

Whether early ordering is open to you depends on the route. Where the client or an agent places the orders, items can be bought ahead of the main contract: BIID notes that specialist items such as curtains, art, rugs, freestanding furniture and light fittings may be left out of the main contract, and Designing Buildings says FF&E may be procured separately, with each element’s contract defined clearly. Inside a contractor’s package, early orders are possible if the contract provides for them. The RIBA Plan of Work 2020 Overview describes packages for crucial building systems being tendered and awarded earlier in Stage 4 under management contracting (PDF page 92), and a contractor being appointed under a pre-contract services agreement so that some work can start before the contract sum is settled (PDF page 93). See FF&E procurement routes compared, and ask the project’s contract adviser which applies.

Three questions decide whether an item goes early or stays in the main package. If the answer to any is no, either close the gap or keep the item in the main package.

What an early order commits you to

An early order commits money and a production slot against a design that has not yet been built. If the design changes afterwards, something already ordered may have to be reworked or scrapped. Our pricing page says that once a quotation is approved and the deposit paid, the price is fixed for the agreed scope, and a later variation is costed and approved in writing before work changes. What an early order commits, whether a deposit is needed, and what can still change after it is placed are agreed with the maker for each case. This sheet states no terms.

Our lead times page says we flag long-lead components in the first programme so that they are ordered against drawing approval, not discovered late, and that the clock is counted from written approval of the shop drawings and samples. Our hospitality FF&E page says prototypes and long-lead items are started early. The point of both is the same as the test above: order early, but only against something signed.

What must be signed off first

Eight gates sit in front of an early order. Not every item needs all of them, but an item that skips one should do so knowingly, and the register records which gates are still open.

Working out the latest order date without guessing a duration

The latest order date is a sum, worked backwards from the date the item is needed in the room. Each term of the sum is a period that only the maker can give, and a period means nothing without the event it is counted from. Our lead times page counts its clock from written approval of the shop drawings and samples; another maker may count from the order or from the deposit. Write the event next to every period.

1. Start from the date needed on site, taken from the programme.
2. Take away the delivery window, to the address and floor, as the maker gives it.
3. Take away the making period, as the maker gives it, with the event it starts from.
4. Take away the approvals still to come, including your own time to review and the maker’s time to revise.
5. Allow storage or float, so that a slipped date does not become a missed one.
6. Re-run the sum whenever a sign-off date or a maker’s period changes.

If no maker has given a period yet, write ‘ask’ in the register. An estimate copied from another job looks like a fact and is not one.

The long-lead register

The register is a short list, issued with the FF&E schedule and reviewed at every programme meeting. It carries one line for each item that passed the first question of the test, whether or not it is ordered early. The columns:

Keep one register and one owner. A register that is not reviewed when a date moves is only a list. See the FF&E schedule template for the status list it shares, and where bespoke work sits in the RIBA Plan of Work for when each sign-off falls.

The Employer intends to place early orders for the items in Schedule [ref] ahead of the Building Contract, under [separate contracts with the suppliers / a pre-contract services agreement / the Contractor's early works order]. The Contractor is to allow for receiving, unloading, storing and protecting these items, for [installing / coordinating the installation of] them, and for the builder's work, fixings, power, data and access they depend on, as Schedule [ref]. The programme assumes the items are on site by [date]. [Late delivery of early-ordered items is / is not] a Contractor risk event: clause [ref].

An item in Schedule [ref] is ordered early only when: shop drawing [number, revision] is approved; control sample [S-nn] is signed; site dimensions are confirmed [survey ref] where the item depends on them; evidence requirements [fire, timber, tests] are agreed; the maker has confirmed in writing what is committed by the order, what may still change and at what effect on cost and programme, and where the item is stored, by whom and insured by whom; and [named role] has authorised the commitment. The order names the drawing revision and the sample reference.

The long-lead register is held by [party] at revision [letter] and issued with the FF&E schedule. For each item it records the maker's period and the event it is counted from, the date needed on site, the latest order date calculated from them, what must be signed off first, status and owner, and the risk to the date. It is reviewed at each [programme meeting] and whenever a sign-off date changes.

For [item] please confirm: (1) the approvals you need and the time you need to review them after submission; (2) your making period and the event it is counted from; (3) your delivery window to [address]; (4) what you need in order to commit materials or a production slot, and what is committed once ordered; (5) storage arrangements if the site is not ready; (6) anything that could lengthen these. Give each period with its start event, not as a single figure.

Standards and sources

• Designing Buildings: Long lead-time item: commentary, last edited 23 Jan 2021; read 5 Nov 2026.
• RIBA Plan of Work 2020 Overview (RIBA, 2020): PDF pages 63, 92, 93, 122, paraphrased. Copyright RIBA.
• BIID: Professional Practice Series: FF&E (15 Dec 2020): items outside the main contract.
• Designing Buildings: Furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E): edited 30 Jun 2022.
• No standard applies: we found none that sets a long-lead register.

Questions we are asked

What is a long-lead item?

One whose making and delivery take long enough that its order date drives the programme. Designing Buildings describes it as an item where the period from order to delivery is long enough to harm the project or to need ordering well in advance. In FF&E the usual suspects are items made to order by a third party, items chosen from natural stock, hand finishing, and anything that needs a prototype first.

Which FF&E items should be ordered early?

Those that pass three tests: the order date, not the making, will set the date the item is needed; the drawing and control sample are signed; and the order can be held safely, meaning storage, change and payment are settled. Stone, made-to-order glass lighting, hand-finished metal, bespoke ironmongery, designer-supplied fabric and matched veneer are common candidates, and the glance table says why.

Can I order before the main contract is signed?

It depends on the route and the contract. Where the client or an agent places orders, items can be bought ahead of the main contract. Inside a contractor’s package, early orders are possible if the contract provides for them: the RIBA Overview describes packages let earlier in Stage 4 under management contracting, and a pre-contract services agreement under which some work can start before the contract sum is settled. Ask the project’s contract adviser.

What must be approved before an early order?

At least the shop drawing, at a named revision, and the control sample. Add the site survey where the item is fitted, the evidence requirements, the quantity, the delivery and storage arrangements, and the authority to commit. The gate table sets them out.

How do I work out the latest order date without a lead time?

Work backwards from the date needed on site: take away the delivery window, the making period and the approvals still to come, each as the maker gives it with the event it is counted from, and keep some float. Where no maker has given a period, write ‘ask’, not an estimate.

Does Make Bespoke Studio order long-lead items before approval?

Our lead times page says we flag long-lead components in the first programme so that they are ordered against drawing approval, and that the clock runs from written approval of the shop drawings and samples. What an early order needs, including any deposit, is agreed with us for each commission, and this sheet states no terms.