A great procurement process that uses a flawed contract won’t lead to a successful project. On the flip side, a well-written contract doesn’t create an effective procurement process…
A few weeks ago I talked about mindset and trust. This week I’d like to talk about mechanics. Because the two aren’t separate conversations.
Risk allocation only works if it reflects reality. Transferring risk to the design-build team without carefully evaluating who is best positioned to manage it does not eliminate the risk. Doing so will often unnecessarily increase the overall project costs. This means, on a traditional design-build, the owner needs to resolve some items prior to issuing the RFP. Utilities, third-party coordination, ROW, permitting, and geotech uncertainty should all be entirely or at least somewhat resolved before the RFP goes out. On a PDB or CMGC, those same items need to be fully or at least mostly understood by the end of Phase 1, in order to confidently establish GMP.
And procurement strategy, the evaluation criteria, stipend policy, technical discussions, true confidentiality, etc., shapes the outcome of the proposal more than the contract language does. If your RFP is clear and transparent, your DB teams respond with clarity and transparency. If a procurement meeting is confidential, keep it small, keep it in person, and skip the TEAMS option. That’s not bureaucracy; it’s what lets both sides actually talk.
Early contractor involvement is still the highest-value lever we have as it relates to alternative delivery. Construction expertise during design improves constructability, shortens schedules, and opens the door to innovation you simply don’t get in traditional delivery. But innovation only shows up when the process makes room for it, when agencies ask for innovative ideas without prescribing the solution, fund it with a fair stipend, and are open to Alternative Technical Concepts.
And when we measure success, cost and schedule are only part of the story. There is real value in improved safety, increased public benefits, reduced impacts to the traveling public, and stronger collaboration.
What’s the one procurement decision (stipend, evaluation criteria, confidentiality, etc.) that you’ve seen make or break a project before it even started?
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