Planning and Defining the Design-Build Procurement Process - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 97

procurement process. Such workshops must be conducted in an open and transparent way
so that equal access to project information is provided to all parties that are reasonably
likely to be interested in the procurement.
Request for expressions of interest. The owner may choose to issue a Request for
Expressions of Interest (RFEI) before an RFQ. The RFEI provides notice to the market
of the planned DB project and confirms the owner's interest in broad market participation
and fair competition. The RFEI can also detail the planned DB project procurement
process and describe, in general terms, the expected performance requirements of the
design-builder.
The RFEI can also be an opportunity for the owner to solicit feedback on important
project delivery issues. Shaping the final details of the project delivery plan with input
from likely proposers signals to the marketplace that the owner intends to optimize the
delivery strategy by considering the best practices that are advocated by delivery practi-
tioners. Soliciting marketplace feedback is likely to confirm any execution risks for the
project, and the owner can then address these risks in the final procurement documents.
Owners should be careful to evaluate market feedback that is garnered in the RFEI pro-
cess in the context of their project's CSFs; advocacy from proposers may be more aligned
with their business objectives than with the owner's.
Another benefit of the RFEI process is that potential proposers can evaluate the own-
er's project requirements and expectations and opt out of future participation in the pro-
curement if they determine that there is misalignment between their business plans and
the owner's project requirements. In general, potential proposers appreciate the oppor-
tunity to make an informed “go/no go” (i.e., whether to proceed or vice versa) decision
early in the procurement cycle so they can focus their business development and proposal
costs on those projects that best align with their business objectives. A structured and
well-conducted RFEI process results in informed, motivated potential project proposers
and provides owners with real-time market feedback on DB best practices that will help
optimize the subsequent RFQ and RFP procurement phases.
Request for Qualifications
Typically, the goals for a procurement process that include qualifications are (1) generat-
ing broad market interest in an owner's DB project; (2) having fair and open competition
to select the most advantageous offer considering qualifications, cost, and other factors
that are important to the owner; and, (3) if using a two-step approach, developing a short
list of three to five sufficiently qualified firms that are capable of completing the project
according to the owner's requirements and are judged to be capable of providing respon-
sive and favorable proposals in the subsequent RFP stage.
In a two-step DB procurement process, a prequalification stage (i.e., step 1) is used
to limit the number of potential design-builders that will submit a detailed technical and
cost proposal (i.e., step 2).
Offerers are prequalified by adequately responding to the owner's RFQ. The RFQ
describes the owner's project requirements and identifies the expected qualifications and
experience for the project. The RFQ also defines the evaluation criteria that the owner
intends to use to make its short list.