the parking professional august 2006 4544 august 2006 international parking institute

ecently, I was asked tohelp explain the advan-tages and disadvan-tages of the Design-Build delivery methodfor a proposed parkingstructure constructionproject. My email

response to the request became thebasis for this article. Two Design Pro-fessional’s Handbooks titled TheDesign-Build Project Delivery andThe Design/Contract-Build ProjectDelivery, published by the AmericanCouncil of Engineering Companies(ACEC), were helpful references.

As a foundation for comparison,there are four primary project deliverymethods, each described below, alongwith a graphical depiction of the con-tractual relationships for each:

DESIGN-BID-BUILD: (D-B-B)projects are those where theowner selects and contractswith the lead designer (ParkingConsultant or Architects and

Engineers (A/E) ). They in turn repre-sent the owner in defining the projectand preparing drawings and specifica-tions to meet the owner’s needs forcompetitive bidding to contractors.Often on public projects the owner isrequired to select the lowest “respon-sive and responsible” bid, with thecontractors’ qualifications often notgiven consideration. The D-B-Bmethod is sometimes referred to as the“traditional” process and is still themost common method.

DESIGN-BID-BUILD: with aConstruction Manager (CM) iswhere the owner selects andcontracts with the A/E whorepresents the owner in defin-

ing the project and preparing drawingsand specifications to meet the owner’sneeds for bidding. However, the owneralso retains a construction manager(CM) who works with the A/E duringthe design phases, sets the projectschedule, and performs constructioncost estimates. The CM bids the work to

the pros and cons of

DESIGN-BUILDBY GARY CUDNEY, P.E.

R subcontractors for the various trades.This is a better method than D-B-B forprojects where the owner wants fasttrack or phased construction.

DESIGN-BUILD: (D-B).In this case, the ownerretains a D-B contractorwho in turn retains the A/Eso there is a single entity

responsible for both design and con-struction. Often the owner prepares orretains another A/E to prepare designbuild criteria documents as describedbelow. Often, the owner can select theD-B team based on qualifications andcost, consistent with the bidding docu-ments. There has been more interest inD-B type projects recently because ofowners who perceive benefits regardingcost, schedule, and risk management.

DESIGN-CONTRACT-BUILD: (D-C-B) are pro-jects where the ownerselects and contracts withthe A/E. The A/E prepares

preliminary documents that are thebasis for the owner contracting withthe contractor early in the designprocess, rather than waiting for finaldesign documents to be prepared asfor D-B-B. This method combines theadvantages of the D-B-B and D-Bmethods while reducing many disad-vantages to allow the owner to havethe most qualified A/E and contractorinvolved in their project from thedesign phase through the completionof construction.

THE ADVANTAGES OF DESIGNBUILD INCLUDE:

n Owner has a single point ofresponsibility for design and construc-tion.

n Potential for better design andconstruction coordination because theA/E is working for the contractor.

n Owner does not have to arbi-trate disputes between the A/E andcontractor.

n Owner reduces their riskbecause the D/B contractor is respon-

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the parking professional august 2006 4746 august 2006 international parking institute

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sible for errors or omissions in thedesign documents.

n Could be less administrativeburden on the owner.

n Potential for accelerated sched-ule because the contractor is onboardat the beginning and because of theoverlapping of design and construc-tion work.

n Potential for lower costs due tothe contractor being in greater controlof the project and due to the accelerat-ed schedule.

n Costs are well defined earlier inthe project process.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF DESIGNBUILD INCLUDE:

n The D-B contractor has theincentive to complete projects fasterand less expensively which can meanreduced quality of materials and work-manship.

n The owner has less involvementand control of the design because theA/E represents the D-B contractor’sbest interests, not the owner’s. Notonly is this a disadvantage for theowner, but it creates a difficult conflictof interest for the A/E.

n The owner does not benefitfrom independent advice and inputfrom the A/E and contractor.

n Greater definition of the projectis required up front to define goals,objectives, and minimum require-ments for project function, appear-ance, quality, materials, operation, etc.prior to bidding to D-B teams.

n More risk for D-B teams, whichcan negate the potential cost savingopportunities.

In recent years there has been anincreasing interest and use of Design-Build in the construction of parkingstructures. Legislation has been enactedin many states to allow D-B to be usedby public entities because prior lawsrequired publicly funded constructioncontracts to be awarded based uponcompleted design documents. Whenowners decide that D-B is right for theirproject, they can have a better chance ofachieving a successful project utilizingthe following procedures.

RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDINGTHE DESIGN-BUILD DELIVERYMETHOD:

1. The owner should retain an A/Eat project initiation to prepare the D-Bcriteria documents. This allows theowner to have more input into the con-cept design and set standards and cri-teria for the project. Also, due to theuniqueness of parking structures, it isimportant to have the A/E led by aparking consultant or for a parkingconsultant to have a significant role onthe design team.

2. D-B criteria documents shouldclearly define the project scope, func-tion, appearance, quality, materials,and operations. The level of complete-ness of these documents varies, butgenerally they are in the 10 to 30 per-cent range (between Schematic Designand Design Development level ofcompleteness).

3. The owner should use a verytransparent selection process to hirethe D-B contractor, using the D-B cri-teria documents as the basis of theRequest for Qualifications/Proposals(RFQ/RFP).

4. The selection process shouldconsider the D-B teams’ technical

qualifications and experience in addi-tion to cost. Typically there is a weigh-ing of selection criteria such as theexperience and expertise of the firmsand key personnel making up theteam, experience of the team workingtogether, technical merits of design,project appearance, quality and safetyprograms of the contractor, references,schedule, and cost. The selection crite-ria and weighing should be defined inthe RFQ/RFP.

5. The owner’s A/E who preparedthe D-B criteria documents shouldcontinue on during the final designand construction to represent theowner’s interest and help assure thatthe design and construction are com-pleted in conformance with the D-Bcriteria documents.

As an alternative to using the D-Bmethod, the D-C-B or CM methodscan often result in a project that meetsthe owner’s best interests because:

n The A/E contracts to the owner,thus representing their interests, notthe contractors, which should enhancequality.

n Design decisions can more eas-ily be made that are in the best long-term interest of the owner, consideringfactors that will provide the lowest life

cycle maintenance or operational cost,rather than emphasizing those that justprovide the lowest first cost or sched-ule advantage.

n The CM or contractor isonboard early in the design process sothe A/E and contractor collaborateduring design, enhancing innovationand opportunities to consider the con-tractor’s cost saving ideas.

n Similar schedule and costadvantages compared to D-B.

n Less risk for all parties asresponsibilities can be allocated wherethey most belong.

We have had successful projectscompleted using all four of the parkingstructure construction methods dis-cussed above. Understanding theadvantages and disadvantages of eachand following a process to addressthem will help assure that the complet-ed project is a success for the user,owner, community, designer andbuilder. n

Gary Cudney, P.E. is president of CarlWalker, Inc., a firm specializing in parkingstructure design; restoration of parkingstructures, facades and plazas; and parkingstudies and operational consulting. He hasover 22 years of parking consulting experi-ence. E-mail: gcudney@carlwalker.com.