Options for Evaluating Design-Builder Proposals - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 215

Table 17-1. Example of adjectival rating system
Adjectival Rating

Evaluation Criteria

High Proposal Risk

Medium
Low
Highly Relevant Past Project Experience

Relevant
Somewhat Relevant
Not Relevant
Adapted from US Air Force 2001.

ratings. After the initial evaluation of all criteria, the ratings must be combined into an
overall rating for each proposal. Combining results can be done visually or by comparing
the tradeoff between equivalent criteria. Results can also be combined by translating the
adjectives into numbers, but this is not recommended as the numerical values may not be
an accurate representation of the adjectives.

Direct Point Scoring

Direct point scoring is the most complex of the rating systems, and it also provides for
a higher number of rating levels. In a direct point scoring system, points (i.e., numbers)
are used to describe a proposal's conformance with the evaluation criteria. The point sys-
tem can include any range of numbers (e.g., 0 to 10 or 0 to 100) and often is defined with
adjectival ratings (although this is still considered a direct point scoring system). Using
the adjectival ratings from Table 17-1, a direct point scoring system might assign 0 to 3
points for high risk, 4 to 6 points for medium risk and 7 to 10 points for low risk propos-
als. Within each category, the evaluator can choose from a range of points. After the ini-
tial evaluation, the points assigned to a proposal for each criterion are added together to
arrive at a total point level for the proposal. One caution is that the direct point scoring
system may appear to provide a more precise evaluation of proposals and an appearance
of objectivity: the underlying ratings are inherently subjective and based on the evaluator.

AWARD ALGORITHMS

There is a spectrum of procurement award algorithms that owners have developed in an
effort to determine the best proposal. These methods can be summarized in seven award
algorithms that are typically used in awarding projects through BVS.

Meets Technical Criteria-Low Bid Method

The meets technical criteria - low bid method is similar to the low-bid procurement method
in that the final award decision is based on price. The DB teams must, however, also
meet some minimum technical criteria. Technical proposals are reviewed before the price