Design-Builder Selection for Small Highway Projects

Abstract

This paper offers six case studies of design-builder selection for small publicly funded highway projects across the United States. Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Washington State Departments of Transportation participated in this study. This study compares critical components of design-builder solicitation and selection. Design-builder selection methods are modeled and categorized into fixed-price, one-step, and two-step procedures. The states developed different procedures due to state procurement statutes, level of design at the request for proposal stage, project complexity, familiarity with the design-build process, and agency culture. Although four of the states used fixed-price or one-step methods to select design-builders on the cases studied, three have since adopted, or are seeking, legislation to adopt two step-methods due to their experiences on the cases presented. The use of design-build dictates a major cultural shift for all stakeholders in the delivery process. This paper offers guidance for other state transportation authorities, highway engineers, and contractors embarking on design-build.