Strategic procurement items, including complex engineered equipment and systems essential for project performance, are frequently designed, manufactured, and delivered by suppliers who are outside the circle of cooperation between owner, engineer, and contractor. When suppliers are excluded from the design and planning stages of a project, much of the knowledge needed for successful design and integration is lost or underutilized. This research was done as part of a Construction Industry Institute sponsored project to develop and quantify a step change to the EPC process that will bring the supplier into the circle of cooperation between the owner, engineer, and contractor. The result was a step change entitled PEpC (Procure, Engineer, procure, and Construct). This research also sought to provide implementation guidelines for the recommended step change. Through an examination of the literature, a survey of industry experts, and the review of four case studies, this research found that PEpC, the step change recommended by the Construction Industry Institute research team, may reduce both the time and cost required to complete a project. The anticipated savings in project duration is expected to fall between 10 and 15 percent, while the anticipated reduction in project direct labor cost is expected to fall between 4 and 8 percent. / Master of Science