7.7. Structural Steel & Deck Sheet procurement

1. As the first step, sooner the shop drawings are concluded by the SS Contractor, he shall prepare the nesting plan for the Project and divide the same into multiple procurement lots. Few challenges found in closure of shop drawings are connection details in exceptional columns/beam types and façade to structural steel interface and these need to addressed on priority.
2. The Structural Steel contractor shall share this information along with estimated overall quantity of steel for the project, with the Structural consultant for validation, keeping the GC and GM into the loop. The final estimation of quantities need to be pre-agreed by SS vendor, Structural consultant and CDD, before placing any order.
3. Once confirmed by the Structural consultant, the Contractor shall prepare a procurement plan backed by the production plan & erection plan, which should tie-up with the Master approved Schedule.
4. These plans need to be submitted by the Structural steel contractor for the approval of GC and by the GM.
5. As and when procurement order needs to be placed, the Structural steel contractor shall liaise with the steel mills and get the indent which shall have the specifications, quantum of order, Minimum order quantity, delivery date, rate of supply etc.
6. The Structural steel contractor shall share the indent to the GC who shall share the same to the GM. GM shall forward the indent for approval from the procurement department. This is typically done by an email request for rate approval by the SS contractor.
7. On verification, validation and negotiation, the Procurement department will confirm the rates back to GM, who will confirm the same to the GC. On hearing from GM, the GC will confirm the rates to the SS contractor.
8. On receipt of confirmation of rates, the Structural steel vendor shall directly place the order with the steel mill.
9. The payment terms between Phoenix and the SS contractor shall be in line with the Contract wherein the amount of material advance to be paid and price escalations between the actual price and base price, are dealt with. Even the procurement of material covered under standard wastage and how the same shall be dealt with is explained in the SS contractor contract.
10. The responsibility of coordination and follow-up and delivery of material from the mill to the Contractor's factory shall be done by the SS Contractor.

In case of Deck sheet, since the supply of material (coil) is done by the mill and profiling is done by SS Contractor or another agency, Phoenix's role shall be limited to get the coil price approved as per the above process. Getting the material delivered to the profiling company and getting it back to the site shall continue to be the Contractor's responsibility.

However, there are instances where the SS contractor cannot finance the steel or decking coil procurement, or by contractual terms, Contractor is dependent on Phoenix to procure the same. The responsibility of procurement should always lie with the SS Contractor, and Phoenix will only step in to support by exception.

Phoenix might suggest procurement through an intermediary to be appointed for this purpose in a situation like that. However, the intermediary's appointment is only to facilitate the payment. The responsibility of coordination with the steel mill for specifications in the order, delivery timeline, and follow up of delivery post placement of the order shall continue with the SS contractor. So the steps 1-7 above shall remain the same. In step 8, instead of the Contractor placing an order on the mill, the Contractor shall place the order on the intermediary who shall place the order on the mill with specific instructions of Bill to the Intermediary and Ship to the Contractor. The copy of the order shall be shared with the SS contractor. On the due date, the intermediary shall make the payment due to the Steel Mill. Based on the terms of the Contract, Phoenix shall pay the SS contractor who in turn will pay the intermediary to close the loop. The responsibility of coordination and follow-up and delivery of material from the mill to the Contractor factory shall be done by the SS Contractor.