Owner Management of Design-Build Project Execution - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 226

on the project price and schedule will need to be assessed. If this occurs during the bidding
phase, the practitioner will adjust the design, cost, and schedule prior to submitting the
bid. If this occurs after the project award, a final negotiation would occur if there is
an impact on the cost or schedule. The owner then continues to review design as it is
developed into a final design. When a design-builder is selected based on its qualifications
and the detailed design has not begun, the owner can be involved in design reviews as the
design progresses.
Value engineering. Value engineering (VE) is an independent review of a design to
identify any cost and/or quality improvements that can be made with little or no impact
on the project objectives and treatment goals. How the VE process applies to a DB effort
(DBIA 2010) is not well understood. In traditional DBB projects, VE evaluations are
performed when the design is at 30 to 60 percent complete, thus allowing the design
engineer to incorporate the VE suggestions before the design is complete. In DB, VE
is done by the design-builder as part of gaining a competitive edge during project
procurement, or during project execution when identified savings are considered to
belong to the design-builder. Value engineering is discussed in more detail in chapter 20.
In DB projects, owners can require specific types of VE review. Preparation of RFP
and/or RFQ documents, which include information that is similar to a traditional prelimi-
nary design, may warrant a VE review prior to the issue of the RFQ and/or RFP. Even
after the contract is awarded, a VE review of how the conceptual approach is being trans-
lated into final design can be performed. If a VE session is initiated after the contract is
awarded, there needs to be an understanding between the owner and design-builder as to
how proposed changes will be applied and how cost and schedule savings will be distrib-
uted between the design-builder and the owner.
Design reviews and approvals. Even though the owner is not directly responsible for
the development of detailed design in the DB delivery process, the owner does need to
monitor that detailed design to make sure it is consistent with the conceptual requirements.
Because changes do occur during the life of a project, it is important that the owner
understand the progress of design and how the conceptual requirements are being
interpreted so that changes can be identified and handled in a timely manner. As with
the traditional process, this is best done through scheduled design reviews. Recognizing
that the design schedule is now integrated with the procurement and construction effort,
it is important that the bidding documents and contract clearly describe the role that the
owner intends to take during design reviews.
There are some important aspects of the DB design process that need to be considered:
1. If the project is on an accelerated delivery schedule, the bidding documents need
to describe clearly the number, duration, and intent of design reviews, so that
they can be included in the bidders' schedules.
2. Design development does not necessarily progress in a manner that is consistent
with the need to order materials and equipment to meet a construction schedule.
For example, structural design begins at the top of a building, and progresses
to the bottom, whereas steel is erected from the bottom to the top. The design-
builder may need to have some elements of the design finalized in a sequence that
is different from that of a traditional approach, and depending on the stage of
design, the impact of a design change can be much greater than in a traditional
design.