Public Works Project Delivery

Position Statements

The Council recognizes the design and construction process must respond to changing circumstances in the construction industry. Alternative delivery methods should be considered when appropriate for public sector projects. The appropriateness must be based, in part, on the level of knowledge the client has about the process under consideration. Any delivery system needs to address assignment of responsibilities, including responsibility for professional liability. Determination to use any delivery system should be based on evidence that the system provides good value, does not diminish the focus on design excellence and results in a high quality building.

Further refinements to the current state public works contracting procurement laws should take into consideration:

The owners’ qualifications, skill levels and sophistication to use the project delivery method;
Ease of administering the process;
A process that is transparent and fair to all involved;
Has a focus on the qualification of the teams which are responding to the procurement requests; and,
Involves the A/E professional that will design the project from the very beginning of the project development and project delivery process.

Contractor Selection

The Council recommends that consideration be given to allowing public entities more freedom to reject a contractor who is a low bidder, where that contractor has a history of being unreliable or substandard in the past. The Council supports the use of standardized critiques of the performance of architects and contractors following any major capital improvement or construction project with the critiques being utilized in a system to prequalify general contractors and subcontractors as part of publicly bid projects, and to continue including performance as a criterion for selecting architects under RCW 39.80.

Design/Bid/Build

The Council reaffirms support for this traditional method. It provides the best opportunity for owner involvement in the design process. The steps of schematic design, design development, and preparation of construction documents, along with cost estimating and value assessment, are time-proven to stimulate the creative process and provide quality buildings. Responsibilities and liabilities of architects and contractors are clear. Projects requiring multiple funding authorizations benefit from required approval in this stepped process with its ability to revise scope of work should the owner’s needs or funding change.

General Contractor/Construction Manager (GC/CM)

This method may be suitable for those projects requiring an accelerated schedule, a higher level of value assessment, or more use of “partnering” by architect/contractor team collaboration. Architect and contractor have separate contracts. The general contractor acts as an advisor during the design process, providing constructability review and cost estimating, and also may be a constructor. The Council advocates that the selected architectural firm has a voting member on the selection team for the general contractor/construction manager (GC/CM). Recent studies of the use of this process in Washington demonstrate that in the right circumstances, it can be an effective delivery method for projects meeting the strict criteria for its use. The GC/CM process can foster greater collaboration by bringing the general contractor onto the project earlier in the project development process.

Design/Build

Projects which are simple, generic, repetitive, and do not require significant user input may be suitable for this method. With design/build, a single architect, engineer, and contractor team responds, with a fixed price, to an owner-developed building program. The criteria used to evaluate submittals should be objective, include total project cost, consider the architect's ability for appropriate design and consider the contractor's qualifications and experience. The Council encourages engaging an independent architect, using RCW 39.80, to act as an advisor for development of the building program and request for submittals, submittal evaluation and review of the final building design and construction. This procurement method should be used in limited circumstances and be available to only the most sophisticated owners who have A/E or construction professionals on staff that can oversee the implementation of the project.