A project delivery method is a system used by an agency or owner for
organizing and financing design, construction, operations, and
maintenance services for a structure or facility by entering into legal
agreements with one or more entities or parties.
Types Common project delivery methods include:
Design-Bid-Build or Design-Award-Build An owner develops contract documents
with an architect or engineer consisting of a set of blueprints and a detailed
specification. Bids are solicited from contractors based on these documents; a
contract is then awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
DBB with Construction Management With partially completed contract
documents, an owner will hire a construction manager to act as an agent.
As substantial portions of the documents are completed, the construction manager
will solicit bids from suitable subcontractors. This allows construction
to proceed more quickly and allows the owner to share some of the risk inherent
in the project with the construction manager.
Design-Build or Design-Construct An owner develops a conceptual plan for
a project, then solicits bids from joint ventures of architects and/or engineer
and builders for the design and construction of the project.
Design-Build-Operate-Maintain DBOM takes DB one step further by
including the operations and maintenance of the completed project in the same
original contract. Build-Operate-Transfer
BOT represents complete integration of the project delivery: the same contract
governs the design, construction, operations, maintenance and financing of
the project. After some concessionary period, the facility is transferred back
to the owner. Integrated Project Delivery
A project delivery method in which the interests of the primary team members
are aligned in such a way that the members can be integrated for optimal
project performance resulting in a collaborative, value-based process
delivering high-outcome results to the entire building team.
Trends in delivery method prevalence Though DBB is now used for most private
projects and the majority of public projects, it has not historically been
the predominant delivery method of choice. The master builders of centuries
past acted both as designers and constructors for both public and private
clients. In the United States, Zane's Post Road in Ohio and the IRT in New
York City were both originally developed under more integrated delivery methods,
as were most infrastructure projects until 1933. Integrated Project Delivery
offers a new delivery method to remove considerable waste from the construction
process while improving quality and a return to more collaborative methods
from the past. Conceptual differences between delivery
methods There are two key variables which
account for the bulk of the variation between delivery methods:
The extent of the integration of the various service providers.
The extent to which the owner is directly financing the project.
When the various service providers are segmented, the owner has the most amount
of control, but this control is costly and doesn't give each provider an
incentive to optimize its contribution for the next service. When there is
tight integration amongst providers, each step of the delivery is undertaken
with future activities in mind, resulting in cost savings, but limiting
the owner's influence throughout the project.
The owner's direct financing of a project simply means that the owner
directly pays the providers for their services. In the case of a facility with
a consistent revenue stream, indirect financing becomes possible: rather than
be paid by the owner, the providers are paid with the revenue collected from the
facility's operation. Indirect financing risks being mistaken
for privatization. Though the providers do have a concession to operate and
collect revenue from a facility that they built and financed, the structure
itself remains the property of the owner.
References