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The Olympic Delivery Authority has said subcontractors in the South-east will play a key role in the building programme for the 2012 Games.

David Higgins, chief executive of the ODA, said at last week's ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½/Property Week Six Years and Counting conference, hosted by Clifford Chance in Canary Wharf, that he wanted to support local businesses.

He added that the ODA's delivery partner needed to be well connected in the South-east's construction market. He said: "The delivery partner has to have local knowledge and has to understand the local supply chain."

The ODA is in the process of selecting the delivery partner from a shortlist of four, which includes US firm Bechtel and three consortiums that are mainly made up of UK firms.

Higgins said: "We will have people on the ground actively trying to get local businesses involved."

The building programme is already employing predominantly local subcontractors, Higgins said. He cited the example of tunnelling work being undertaken to put power lines underground. Of the 220 firms engaged on the job, 190 had London postcodes, he said.

The ODA is set to appoint a panel of lawyers to help it keep the peace between the parties involved in construction.

Higgins said there was considerable potential for disputes: "We will have so many contractors and subcontractors on a very complex site, with limited access to site.