Benefits and Challenges of Design-Build - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 19

Project: Arbennie Pritchett Water Reclamation Facility
Owner: Okaloosa County, Florida
Design-Build (DB) Entity: CDM
Completion Date: September 2009
Description of Project
Okaloosa County, located in Florida's western panhandle, needed increased waste-
water treatment capacity and new treatment technology to treat future wastewater
flows. The existing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was past its effective life
span and had serious odor control problems that had generated numerous commu-
nity complaints. The County needed a new facility in a new location.
Why the Owner Chose Design-Build
A number of factors contributed to the County's decision to utilize DB for this proj-
ect, including:
• Ability to compress delivery schedule
• Opportunity for innovation
• Single-source responsibility
• Performance guarantees to manage risk
In addition, the County had negative experiences with a number of large proj-
ects implemented by traditional design-bid-build (DBB) and had successful experi-
ences with construction management at risk delivery of a major conference center
and a regional airport terminal. These alternative delivery projects encouraged the
County to take the step to DB for the new WWTP.
Lessons Learned
The County's success in DB delivery of the new water reclamation facility was based
on mutual trust, close collaboration (starting with proprietary design workshops
during proposal preparation), the design-builder's use of 3D/4D design to facilitate
owner review, early and proactive permitting, and flexibility of both the owner and
the design-builder. Some specific features used by the owner included:
• A defensible qualifications-based selection process was used that allowed
the incorporation of critical design elements
• A detailed construction cost estimate was obtained to support project
financing and contract negotiations
• An appropriate level of design development was provided to the proposers
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