A project can be heavily committed in dollar terms and still have material procurement gaps. Coverage is about whether the required scope is actually represented, not simply how large the purchase orders are.
If a residential job has awarded $600,000 of subcontract work, that number sounds reassuring. It says nothing about whether waterproofing, external works, temporary works, specialist finishes or another required scope is missing from those packages.
A useful coverage review starts from the budget categories and asks whether each required subcontract area has at least reached a tendered or awarded position.
Uncovered scope often becomes visible when sequencing forces the purchase. By then, the builder has less negotiating leverage, fewer subcontractor options and less opportunity to redesign or reallocate scope. A missing $20,000 package discovered early is procurement. The same gap discovered two weeks before it is needed is an emergency.
A package marked awarded is not automatically safe. Review exclusions, provisional amounts, interfaces and client-supplied items. The commercial question is whether the package plus retained allowance is sufficient to complete the category.