The Owner’s Selection Committee - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 201

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The Owner's
Selection Committee
Chuck Williams, PE, DBIA, PMP, AECOM
Contributing Authors: Madeline Fong Goddard, PE,
Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, La.;
Alberto Acevedo, PE, BCEE, PMP, Orange County Sanitation District, Calif. IPMC;
E2 Consulting Engineers;
Rich Bartels, PE, DBIA, Colorado Springs Utilities, Colo.; and
Oscar A. Khoury, PE, DBIA, Riverside Public Utilities, Calif.
INTRODUCTION
The selection committee is a critical element of a successful DB project procurement. It
would be unfortunate if the procurement process was well planned and executed but the
evaluation and selection of the design-builder were poorly executed, creating the percep-
tion of unfairness and the potential for protests. The complexities and challenges of the
selection committee activities are not widely recognized and discussed. Many owners do
not provide orientation and preparation for committee or for the evaluation and selection
activities, because they do not recognize the level of such complexities and challenges
between the selection for DB projects versus traditional DBB projects. These challenges
range from confidentiality concerns to procedures for handling discussions and scoring
by committee members. A well-prepared and well-conducted selection committee activity
can produce better results and significantly reduce owner risks.
This chapter was developed through communication with the listed contributing
authors, and includes their experiences with selection committees. Additional informa-
tion can be found in DBIA's Design-Build RFP/RFQ Guide (DBIA 2001).
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE
SELECTION COMMITTEE
The selection committee will review and evaluate DB proposals and, based on the estab-
lished selection criteria in the RFQ and/or RFP, recommend a design-builder to the
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