Civil Engineering Reference
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procurement around the priorities that were set during project delivery strategy develop-
ment. When owners decide that the design-builder's qualifications and experience are
important for successful DB project completion, qualifications are included in the pro-
curement (e.g., qualifications-based selection, best-value selection, or progressive DB)
of a design-builder. Otherwise, design-builders are procured based on price alone (i.e.,
price-based selection). Owners who have completed capital projects using the DB delivery
method generally believe that using qualified design-builders is an important factor for
successful project completion. In an alternative project delivery survey of water and waste-
water utilities (R. W. Beck 2009), more than 90 percent of survey respondents agreed that
the design-builder's qualifications are an important selection criterion.
As discussed in chapter 7, when qualifications are included with price as criteria, there
is often a two-step best-value procurement process. In the two-step procurement process,
the owner first issues a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to solicit Statements of Qualifi-
cations (SOQ) from parties interested in completing the project. SOQ are reviewed by the
owner and then a list of qualified respondents is created. Typically, an owner will limit or
short-list the firms that perform step 2 to three to five firms. Short-listed respondents are
provided the opportunity to respond to the owner's request for proposals (RFP) in step
2. The RFP describes the owner's project requirements in detail, presents the required
proposal submittal details, and outlines the selection process and criteria that the owner
commits to use when selecting the design-builder.
Table 8-3 summarizes the sequence of activities typically associated with a two-step
procurement process for solicitation of proposals for DB projects and the selection of the
preferred provider. Typical durations for each activity are shown as general guidance. The
appropriate procurement schedule is highly dependent on the magnitude and complexity
of the project. Owners will find the need to adjust these individual durations based on the
needs of their project. Larger, more complicated projects will take longer to procure given
the need to spend more time defining the project requirements, preparing procurement
documents, allowing adequate time for market response, and carefully and completely
reviewing submittals. In general, competitive proposals that meet the project's require-
ments can be obtained from highly qualified design-builders within six to nine months
after an owner has set the project requirements and determined the procurement strategy.
In a one-step process, qualifications can also be included as part of a best-value selec-
tion approach. In this method, a single solicitation is prepared by the owner that solic-
its qualifications, approach, and cost to be submitted by respondents in one proposal
document. While the one-step process offers the potential advantage of reduced overall
procurement duration, it is sometimes difficult to obtain equivalent proposals for review
without a prequalification/short-list step. When completing large and complicated water
and wastewater projects using DB, a two-step procurement process is recommended so
that competing proposals are accepted from qualified respondents. For a one-step selec-
tion process, typical durations are shown in Table 8-4.
When owners do not believe that price, approach, or other considerations beyond
the qualifications and experience of respondents are necessary to select a design-builder
for their water and wastewater projects, a qualifications-based selection (QBS) process
can be employed. QBS requires high trust between the owner and respondents and may
be appropriate when schedule constraints prevent the more lengthy procurement pro-
cesses previously described; or when project requirements are so unique that it is clear to
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