In construction, sourcing turns on two variables catalogues hide: the delivered-to-site price and the real collection date. Material twenty per cent cheaper but three weeks late costs more than the discount, because it pushes every downstream trade back.
So we always tender on a delivered basis, with a committed delivery slot and matching penalties. We also verify the documents that shut a site down during an inspection: social-security compliance certificates, decennial and public liability insurance, posted-worker declarations for foreign crews, and CE marking of products.
The France-Luxembourg-Belgium border zone shows real structural price gaps on certain product families. Exploiting them requires mastering the applicable VAT and the immovable-works regime, which does not follow the usual reverse-charge rules.
Typical requirements
- Aluminium, PVC and timber joinery
- Insulation and façade systems
- Concrete, precast and structural steel
- Metalwork and locksmithing
- Site equipment and rental
- Technical lot subcontracting
This sector, country by country
- Sourcing construction materials in FranceThe delivered-to-site price and the collection date, not the catalogue price.
- Sourcing construction materials in LuxembourgAmong Europe’s highest prices, and a posting to declare.
- Sourcing construction materials in the NetherlandsAdvanced prefabrication: fewer site risks, more upstream constraints.
- Sourcing construction materials in BelgiumCo-contractor rule and Limosa declaration: two reflexes not to miss.
