Acquisition in the construction industry
The term 'acquisition' is a very broad one that refers to the process of acquiring all, or part of a tangible or intangible asset or capability.
In the construction industry, acquisition might refer to:
- The acquisition of one company by another.
- Site selection and acquisition.
- Land acquisition.
- Compulsory acquisition.
- The acquisition of skills.
- The acquisition of other services or assets, such as plant acquisition.
The glossary of statistical terms, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), states: ‘Goods (including assets) and services are acquired by institutional units when they become the new owners of the goods or when the delivery of services to them is completed.’
STAR Procurement (a shared procurement service for Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford Councils), Glossary of Terms, published in May 2019, suggests that acquisition is a wider concept than procurement: ‘…it is the over-arching ‘whole life-cycle’ process, of which the procurement process is a sub-section. Involving suppliers in acquisition; particularly in the pre-procurement phase can add value to the procurement process.’
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