Abstract—The Engineering–Procurement–Construction (EPC) system challenges contractors by running the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction of a one-stop multidisciplinary service project. After receiving the EPC lump sum contract, the contractor bears the risk of cost changes arising from the contractor’s design, continuing the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) as a reference in the bid price proposal. This study identifies EPC design risk in CPO Refinery plant-based agro-industrial projects in Indonesia (2013–2018) using cost-balancing options to obtain the lowest cost overruns or a maximum cost increase of 10% of the contract value after presenting an overview of the strategy and research tools. Subsequently, a suitable recommendation for the future directions of the EPC concept is proposed considering the tender, contractual, and engineering stages.