Owner Management of Design-Build Project Execution - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 230

Safety
A safe project is a successful project, and everyone involved should be focused on mak-
ing certain that all aspects of the project allow for the safe execution of the work. While
an owner should not interfere with the design-builder's means and methods, this does
not mean that the owner should have no involvement in ensuring that the work is safely
performed. Building safety into the project can start during the procurement process; the
design-builder's safety record could be a key qualification criterion (WDBC 2010). Clearly
stated safety standards and expectations should be included in the conceptual documen-
tation as well as any project-specific safety requirements that must be followed. During
design, the owner can highlight potential safety issues not only to future users of the com-
pleted facility but to the construction worker as well. During construction, owner interest
in safety activities and making certain that owner staff follow site safety rules continue to
reinforce a positive safety message.
Construction Oversight
All projects require construction quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). Quality
oversight serves two purposes: (1) to ensure that the infrastructure is installed in accor-
dance with the contracted standards and tolerances, and (2) to verify that the work is con-
sistent with the design intent.
In a traditional DBB project, complete and detailed design documents, which are
issued by the owner, show exactly what is to be installed. Inspectors are able to use the
documents to inspect work that is being performed, confirm compliance with the design
intent, and verify adherence to the appropriate standards and tolerances. During a DB proj-
ect, documentation issued by the owner specifies only some criteria and does not include
the detailed design information that is needed to thoroughly review the work. Installation
documents may consist of drawings and specifications by the engineer-of-record, as well
as vendor and supplier drawings. Because the documentation for DB installations is often
from multiple sources and may not include all design criteria, inspectors need to adjust
their practices for quality control. They will need to be satisfied that the installation docu-
mentation complies with the conceptual requirements of the project, and they may have to
interpret what is a compliant installation based on the available information.
Changes in design to accommodate a field situation are also handled differently using
DB delivery. In many cases, the process of submitting a Request for Information (RFI)
to the designer and waiting for a revised design document is replaced by the designer
observing the issue in the field and issuing a field sketch of the correction. It is important
that there are procedures for communicating these changes to the inspection team so that
adjustments are properly recorded in the as-built record.
Many owners have a policy that the designer is in the best position to provide over-
sight of construction and can best determine that the design is being properly interpreted
and executed. In the case of DB delivery, an owner may be uncomfortable with or have
policies that forbid the same entity from constructing and inspecting the work. Many
agencies do allow a contractor to provide quality control of its own work if there is suit-
able quality assurance oversight. An owner that typically uses designers for construction
quality assurance will need to decide whether it makes sense to continue with that policy.