Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) is a special form of contracting arrangement. In an EPCM arrangement, the client selects a contractor who provides management services for the whole project on behalf of the client. This type of contract is different to an EPC Contract in that the Contractor is not directly involved in the construction but is responsible for administering the Construction Contracts.

Delivering an EPCM project means different things to many participants. The form and structure of an EPCM Contract will vary depending on a variety of factors such as the:

• Particular industry and project
• Sophistication and expertise of the project parties
• Owner’s requirements as to level of involvement
• Owner’s internal project delivery resources/and skill set
• History and level of trust between the Owner and the Contractor
• Level of integration between the project parties’ respective teams
• Level of risk on the project (ie technical and commercial/financial).

In its simplest form, an EPCM Contract is a consultancy agreement for the provision of professional or technical services. At one end of the spectrum, an EPCM could be considered to be a pure consultancy-type arrangement and, at the other end, an integrated EPCM Contract could look more akin to an integrated alliance style contract. The EPCM Contractor is typically responsible for:

• Basic and detailed design and engineering
• Establishing, implementing and managing tendering processes for procurement of all equipment and materials and awarding and managing works package contracts
• Overall project management and administration of work package contracts, including during warranty periods.