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Procurement should be smooth, predictable, and efficient. Too many teams get stuck chasing updates, correcting errors, and firefighting last-minute issues. Delays, cost overruns, and unnecessary disputes often follow.
If managing procurement feels harder than it should, your process may be doing more harm than good.
Below are five clear signs that bad procurement is slowing you down.
If you don’t know exactly where each package stands without calling someone or digging through spreadsheets, you lack true visibility.
Procurement moves fast, and without a live, centralised view, important details get lost, decisions are delayed, and risk goes unnoticed. This confusion wastes time. Contract administrators (CAs) and quantity surveyors (QSs) chase updates while project managers base decisions on partial information. Eventually, deadlines slip, and it becomes harder to keep procurement on track.
Learn more about the benefits of construction procurement software to improve visibility and efficiency.
When you can’t see the status of every package, deadlines slip. You might discover late that approvals are still outstanding or that a subcontractor never submitted final pricing. By the time gaps are identified, options are limited, and lead times have already taken a hit.
Without a structured workflow, tasks overlap or get missed. One QS assumes a CA has sent a recommendation, while the CA believes the QS is handling price follow-ups. This lack of accountability leads to small missteps that turn into big delays.
Procurement is a sequence of decisions, each depending on what came before it. When those decisions happen in siloed spreadsheets and email chains, teams waste time searching for information. Packages stall, subcontractors repeat questions, and problems multiply as projects grow larger.
Discover the role of a contracts manager in modernising procurement processes to prevent workflow disconnection.
Without a central system, you duplicate work. A QS copies figures from a tender response into Excel, then into a recommendation, then into an email. Another team member revises an old scope, sends it for edits, and repeats the cycle.
By the time a package is approved, it has been updated multiple times in different formats, raising the chance of unnoticed errors.
In a disorganised process, people make their own rules. A contracts manager might tweak payment terms without logging it. A site manager might agree to a variation on the fly, assuming someone else will document it later. These off-the-record changes are risky. Subcontractors might dispute terms they never saw in writing, and project directors might approve costs that contradict earlier agreements.
Procurement is already complex. Relying on manual data entry, scattered documents, and disjointed systems only raises the chance of mistakes. A single error in a tender comparison or a missing clause in a subcontract can drain profits.
Explore how Kori Construction enhances procurement efficiency while managing risks and maximizing ROI.
Copying and pasting figures from one spreadsheet to another sounds harmless until you realise a subcontractor’s revised quote was never updated in the final comparison. Multiple systems cause conflicting versions of the same package, creating confusion about which one is correct.
Nothing slows procurement like a missing file. A signed contract might be buried in someone’s inbox, or a scope of works might never have been properly attached. Hunting for these documents drains time, and by the time the right file is found, the delay has already cost money.
Procurement influences project costs, timelines, and risk. Yet reporting often becomes an afterthought. Data lives in too many places, making it impossible to get a real-time view of commitments. Without timely reports, problems become obvious only after budgets are blown or deadlines have passed.
Stay updated with the latest insights, trends, and tips to improve your reporting processes.
When you finally see that a package is over budget or behind schedule, your options are limited. Price expirations are noticed only after approval lags, or procurement gaps appear only at month-end. Without live data, decisions happen too late, forcing teams to scramble for expensive workarounds.
Cost overruns creep in slowly. Small variations multiply, but if they aren’t tracked, nobody notices until it’s too late. A vague cost code or unapproved variation might hide where money is leaking. Without clear insights, teams can’t negotiate better deals or head off excessive spending early.
An unsigned contract holds up the entire project. If approvals get stuck, timelines slip, subcontractors stall, and site teams are left waiting. Printing, scanning, and chasing signatures create avoidable friction.
Gain insights into simplifying complex contracts with practical tips for quality surveyors.
Final tweaks happen on most contracts. A subcontractor requests a different payment term, or a project director wants to clarify liability. These small changes often trigger another round of emails, edits, and approvals. By the time the contract is concluded, subcontractors might lose confidence in the deal, and site teams might already be behind schedule.
Rushed contract execution leads to oversights. A stressed QS might miss a key exclusion, or a CA reviewing multiple documents in one afternoon might skim critical clauses. These mistakes can escalate into disputes or variations. A missing retention clause could leave the contractor liable for defects, and a poorly worded indemnity could shift unwanted risk.
There's a great article on managing risk in general from CHAS.
Procurement challenges are common, but they’re not unavoidable. Below are two major concerns teams often face.
Discover the top risks in construction procurement and strategies to mitigate them effectively.
Without real-time data, you rely on outdated figures. Missing a contract expiry or failing to track the latest subcontractor price revision can derail budgets. Live procurement tracking alerts you to delays while there’s still time to intervene.
Procurement doesn’t have to be an endless struggle. The delays, errors, and miscommunications that drag out projects are symptoms of outdated processes — too many spreadsheets, too many emails, and too much chasing.
ProcurePro unifies procurement in one platform. Teams track progress in real-time, standardise scopes, send tenders, compare pricing, automate contracts, and generate reports — no more scattered tools. Documents and data are securely stored, so you always know where things stand. No more surprises.
See how it works and book a demo to experience a streamlined procurement process.
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