Options for Evaluating Design-Builder Proposals - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 210

algorithms and use those where appropriate. When the price-based selection approach is
used, these criteria are not relevant.
DEFINING THE PROCUREMENT SPECTRUM
The procurement spectrum, which is illustrated in Figure 17-1, shows how criteria are
used in different selection methods. The components of the spectrum are described as
a background for the selection methods discussion that follows. Additional information
about the types of DB projects can be found in chapter 7.
Project Delivery, Procurement, and Payment Provisions
The procurement process is one of three important decisions that the owner must make
early in the project development process. The other two decisions are the project delivery
method (e.g., DB, DBB, or CMAR) and the payment provisions (e.g., unit price or lump
sum). These three decisions are closely related such that a decision on one, such as the use
of the DB project delivery method, affects decisions on the other two.
Owners should be absolutely clear on their goals for using DB instead of a traditional
DBB project delivery. Clear communication of project goals through the procurement
process undoubtedly affects project success. By conveying these goals in the procurement
documents, proposers can provide proposals that better meet the owner's needs. Proj-
ect goals are an important element of selecting a procurement approach, but they must
be considered in conjunction with the characteristics of the owner, project, and market.
The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials suggests the project
goals of schedule, cost, quality, and innovation in their Guide for Design-Build Procure-
ment (2008). These goals could easily be applied to water and wastewater projects.
Owner characteristics inherently affect the choice of procurement methods. Private
sector owners typically have more latitude than public owners when developing a procure-
ment approach. Public owners can be constrained in their choice of procurement approaches
by federal, state, or local regulations. Public owners tend toward price-based procure-
ment approaches while private sector owners have more flexibility to use qualifications-
based selection (QBS) approaches.
Numerous project characteristics affect the procurement approach selection. It often
helps to consider project characteristics in the categories of scope, schedule, budget, and
complexity. Scope characteristics can include the level of scope definition (i.e., percentage
of design that is completed), the type of specifications to be used (i.e., prescriptive versus
performance), and the level of innovation desired. Schedule characteristics can include
the required delivery date, proposal preparation time, design review time, and signifi-
cant external schedule milestones or dependencies. The budget characteristics that most
often impact the choice of procurement approach can include how the budget is conveyed
to the design-builders, the amount of contingency available, cash flow constraints, and
incentives/disincentives.
The final category of project characteristics relate to project complexity. Project com-
plexity can be difficult to ascertain, but helpful characteristics include design complex-
ity, construction complexity, similarity with existing projects, and whether the project is
technologically advanced or requires highly specialized work. The project characteristics