This report has been designed to analyse e-commerce and e-business in the construction industry, at the request of a construction company called Buildrite. “Buildrite Construction Limited, is a construction firm with a nation-wide presence, undertaking projects ranging from medium sized up to major projects all over the UK”1Like many construction companies in present times. Buildrite are looking at bringing their company into the e-business age.

Due to the advancement of technology, i. e. the internet and computers being at the front of innovation and the business world, general businesses risk falling behind their competition unless they keep up-to-date with technology. Technology is having a profound impact on the way construction businesses/companies operate. It affects everything from the way products are marketed to the collaboration between project team members.

Doing business electronically can streamline the way in which Buildrite work and open up their organisation to new clients and customers. Being traditionally a manual industry, the construction industry may not have been at the forefront of technology, as technology has progressed so rapidly over the past few decades. As the electronic age develops so rapidly, construction companies are becoming more computer literate and using it to their advantage in the industry.

Although the industry is primarily a manual based industry, nowadays there is nearly the same, if not more, academic and paper based work done in the industry than there ever has been before. “The term e-Procurement covers a wide range of web-based methods spanning every stage of the purchase of goods or services. It includes tools for obtaining prices, for awarding the contract, for requesting and making payment, and even for the management of the contract. “