Design and Construction Procurement
Selecting the right team the right way
Procurement covers both design professional selection and construction contracting. The CM must know qualifications-based selection (QBS) for design, low-bid versus best-value for construction, and the mechanics of solicitation, evaluation, and award.
For design, QBS is standard: evaluate qualifications, then negotiate fee. The trap is running a low-bid design competition, which rewards underpriced scope and punishes quality. For construction, low-bid works when documents are complete and the scope is commodity-like; best-value uses weighted criteria (price, schedule, safety, experience, approach).
Solicitation mechanics
- Pre-qualification screens financial capacity, bonding, safety record, and relevant experience before bidding.
- The evaluation committee should score against published criteria with defined weights; changing weights after proposals arrive is a protest magnet.
- Bid leveling normalizes alternates, unit prices, and exclusions so the apparent low bidder is truly low.
- Clarifications do not change price or terms; discussions may, and must be conducted with all offerors in the competitive range.
- Bonding: bid bond, performance bond, payment bond. Know which protects whom.
Traps
- Awarding to the lowest number without leveling for exclusions or unbalanced unit prices.
- Using a single combined solicitation for design and construction when the owner lacks authority for DB.
- Failing to document the rationale; defensibility is the point of the file.
- Assuming a fee percentage is a fair price; scope creep hides in undefined deliverables.
Worked rule
Best-value score = 0.6 price + 0.4 technical, with technical scored 1-5. Bidder A: $10.0M, technical 3. Bidder B: $10.8M, technical 5. Normalize price to lowest (10.0/10.8 = 0.926 for B; 1.0 for A). Score A = 0.6(1.0)+0.4(0.6)=0.84; B = 0.6(0.926)+0.4(1.0)=0.956. B wins despite higher price, and the arithmetic must be shown in the award memo.