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A professional architects' body in Scotland has urged the government to review the current construction procurement process to boost employment in the building sector.
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has published a report claiming that the way in which public authorities offer work to architects is too inefficient and costly.
Currently, any public building project where the architectural fees would be worth more than around £3.5 million has to be put out to tender, but RIAS claims this also happens to schemes which do not exceed this figure - putting smaller firms at a disadvantage.
The body also revealed that the UK has the second slowest construction procurement in Europe and pointed to this inefficiency as having a direct impact upon construction employment in Scotland.
RIAS president Sholto Humphries warned that many more small construction businesses will stop trading if the government does not intervene.
He said: "Small practices, which make up most of the profession in Scotland, are virtually excluded from the vast majority of public projects.
"The resources required simply to submit a tender are forcing many capable, talented and experienced practitioners to look elsewhere (either to the private sector or outwith Scotland) for work."
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