The Request for Qualifications: Attracting and Selecting the Best Qualified Design-Builder - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 183

Approaches to Avoid
• Avoid making the RFQ exclusive in nature. Make sure that the procurement is
transparent, fair, and affords all qualified teams an equal opportunity; however,
be careful about engaging firms that are not realistically qualified candidates.
• Avoid sending out a lengthy RFQ. Make the RFQ succinct and easy to read.
• Do not forbid contact with the owner but instead specify a single point of contact.
Explain the protocol for raising questions and requesting information.
• Be careful about creating adversarial relationships with potential proposers. Be
open and honest with all and provide a level playing field. Ensure that any infor-
mation that could be valuable to proposers is distributed to all and not to a select
group.
• Avoid making proposers take extraordinary efforts to respond to the RFQ (e.g.,
avoid specifying fonts, margins, etc.).
• Do not assume that the labor required to develop and issue the RFQ and to evalu-
ate the submittals is minimal. Learn from the lessons of others that have issued
similar RFQs.
• Do not underestimate the value-added elements provided by proposers. Although
value-added services or features are sometimes hard to quantify, such features
could clearly differentiate a team from the other proposers.
REFERENCES
Borowski, J. and Adams, P. 2010. Water Utility Safety and Health: Review of Best Practices .
Denver, Colo.: Water Research Foundation and American Water Works Association.
Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). 2008. Design-Build Manual of Practice, Doc-
ument Number 301, The Proposal Process—Responding RFPs and RFQs, 2nd Ed.
Washington, D.C.: DBIA, www.dbia.org. (January 1).
DBIA. 2011. Position Statement by the Design-Build Institute of America—Best Value
Selection. www.dbia.org. cited September 17.
DBIA. 2011. The Role of Qualifications in Selection of a Design-Builder, Position State-
ment by the Design-Build Institute of America. www.dbia.org., cited September 17.
Flick, J. C., and J. Giachino. 2009. Successfully Developing and Responding to a Design-
Build RFP. Presentation at the Region Design-Build Institute of America Annual Con-
ference, October 1.
Water Design-Build Council (WDBC). 2010. The Municipal Water and Wastewater Design-
Build Handbook. Washington, D.C.: Water Design-Build Council.