The value of Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) and the figures to prove it.

The Centre for Construction Best Practice has recently published Constructing Certainty, an independent study analysing the economic impact of Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) across 412 public sector projects.

The findings are compelling. It studied the 412 projects across the different design stages (RIBA 0 – 4) looking at budget and programme control impacts for those who engaged with contractors and at what design stage.

When contractors are appointed early (RIBA Stages 0–2), projects come in under budget:
– RIBA Stage 0: -1.79% vs original budget
– RIBA Stage 1: -1.10%
– RIBA Stage 2: -1.62%

When appointment is delayed, costs escalate sharply:
– RIBA Stage 3: +8.56% over budget
– RIBA Stage 4: +17.35% over budget

Programme performance follows the same pattern. But it’s not just about cost and time.

Where contractors were brought in at RIBA Stage 0, 100% reported influencing sustainable design decisions – material selection, construction methodology, sequencing. Leave it too late, and those decisions are already locked in.

Supply chain input tells the same story. Early appointment saw 96–100% of projects benefit from meaningful supply chain involvement in buildability and programme planning. By RIBA Stage 4, that figure had dropped to just 49%.

At FiveRivers, we understand this dynamic well. Nature-based solutions demand exactly this kind of integrated, early thinking, where environmental outcomes, site and ecological constraints, and delivery logistics are considered together from the outset. Thankfully, our design team consider buildability at all stages, utilising our dedicated Technical Lead and in-house construction team limiting design changes and streamlining works when we hit the ground.

The research recommends mandating contracted ECI by RIBA Stage 2 on all public sector projects above £5m. Applied to the UK Government’s £725bn infrastructure pipeline, the difference between early and late appointment is estimated at over £138bn.

And here’s something the report’s £5m threshold doesn’t fully capture: the majority of our ECI work happens on projects well below that figure. Smaller schemes like river restoration, NFM interventions, BNG habitat creation, riparian corridor works often operate under tighter budgets and shorter timelines, where the consequences of late engagement can be proportionally just as damaging. A missed survey season or an unresolved access constraint on a £500k scheme can be just as costly in relative terms as a £50m project running over.

We spoke with Dr Kevin Skinner – Associate Director in Fluvial Geomorphology and River Restoration at AtkinsRéalis, we regularly work together supporting their designs with ECI. ‘𝘈𝘵 𝘈𝘵𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘙é𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘊𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (𝘕𝘣𝘚) 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 £5 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘊𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘊𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘵𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘙é𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘌𝘊𝘐 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴.’

Worth a read for anyone working in construction, ecology, or environmental contracting – https://ccbp.org.uk/early-contractor-involvement/ 

To find out more about how FiveRivers can support your scheme contact us – https://five-rivers.com/our-services/design-consultancy/early-contractor-involvement/

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