Commercial pipeline

The Construction Playbook, Government Guidance on sourcing and contracting public works projects and programmes Version 1, produced by the Cabinet Office and published in December 2020, is focused on getting projects and programmes right from the start. Its principles and policies are intended to transform how public works projects and programmes are assessed, procured and managed. It is a ‘compact’ between government and industry, setting out how they will work together in future.

It states:

‘One of the most important things we can do is to prepare, maintain and publish comprehensive pipelines of current and future government contracts and commercial activity.

‘Publishing commercial pipelines enables suppliers to understand the likely future demands across government. By sharing early insights on planned activities, we can expect to achieve wider participation and greater diversity in our supply chains including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), and support capability-building for the longer term.

‘Published commercial pipelines should look ahead three to five years to be truly effective.’

Supplementing this guidance, the Construction Leadership Council have published supplementary guidance on how to improve pipeline quality: https://akerlof.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AKLF_CLC_Construction-Pipelines_v2.pdf

For more information see: The Construction Playbook.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Government Construction Strategy.
• Pipeline.
• Procurement.
• Public procurement.
• Public project.
• Resolution planning.
• Should cost model.
• The Construction Playbook.