Fixed price construction is possible for commercial and industrial buildings when three conditions are met: the structural system is pre-engineered with certified performance, the contract eliminates provisional sums and prime cost items, and a single contractor controls the entire delivery. VAST satisfies all three conditions. Every VAST building is delivered under one contract with a fixed price, a certain programme, and a 50-year structural warranty.
The word 'fixed price' in conventional construction contracts is almost always misleading. The contract includes provisions for variations — changes to scope, provisional sums for work whose actual cost cannot be determined at tender, prime cost items for materials whose price is market-dependent, and delay claims when the programme is disrupted.
Industry surveys consistently show final costs exceeding contract prices by 15 to 30 percent on commercial projects. The reasons are structural: the building is assembled on site from a large number of individual components whose interfaces create uncertainty that cannot be fully priced at tender.
VAST's zero-tolerance contract architecture eliminates most variation causes before the project starts. The structural system is completely pre-engineered by SIQ — every section, every connection, every foundation pile — before the contract is signed. There are no provisional sums for structural work because every element is specified. There are no prime cost items for structural materials because FormSteel controls the supply chain. There are no unforeseen foundation conditions because IncrediPile installation torque confirms pile capacity as each pile goes in.
One contract means one entity is responsible for the complete building. There is no risk that the structural engineer and the builder disagree about scope. There is no risk that programme delays in one trade cascade to others with no party clearly responsible. VAST holds the design, supply, and construction of the structural envelope under a single contract backed by a 50-year structural warranty.