Developing a Project Technical Criteria Document - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 161

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Developing a Project
Technical Criteria Document
Steve Canney, PE, Black & Veatch Corporation, and
Holly Shorney-Darby, PhD, PE, Black & Veatch Corporation
INTRODUCTION
A common question asked by many owners when embarking on a competitive DB pro-
curement is what level of design, as represented in the project's technical criteria docu-
ment, should be provided to the proposers in the RFP documents? To address this topic,
both the intentions and objectives of the owner, as well as practical aspects of the project,
must be considered.
The philosophical intention, objective, or rational for selecting the DB approach for
a project often includes lower capital cost, shortened project schedule, early commitment
to price and schedule, and/or greater assurance of operational performance. As a result,
the level of preliminary design provided to the proposers should be a balanced blend
with both prescriptive requirements and performance requirements included, so that the
intentions and objectives for the project are met.
There are also practical considerations for the level of design that is provided to
proposers, because each project is unique. For example, the expansion of an existing
treatment plant in an industrialized area versus development of new plant in a subur-
ban setting. In the case of the former, the preliminary design must thoroughly consider
existing conditions, interfaces, and operational implications with the existing facilities.
Whereas for a green-field site, the preliminary design provided to proposers would likely
be developed to reflect commitments made to the local community or planning/zoning
department for permits or other approvals.
This chapter describes the typical contents of the design criteria document for differ-
ent DB approaches and highlights the possible impacts of the document, or parts thereof,
on the procurement and execution of the DB project.
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