Early Contract Involvement or ECI Builder

At last week’s Council meeting the motion to appoint an Early Contract Involvement builder (also known as an ECI builder) was passed.

The involvement of an ECI builder is a method of construction contracting which allows a builder to become substantially involved in the design of a project.

The benefits of bringing a builder on at this early stage means:

• Construction smarts are designed into the building

• The design can be built for a lower cost

This contract is staged. This means that the builder who is awarded the ECI contract may not necessarily be the one who is awarded the major construction contract later in the year. For the ECI contractor to be appointed as the builder they would need to satisfy Council from a range of perspectives including acceptability of their construction offer and price.