Design Build Research Articles

Environmental Sustainability Approaches Adopted for Anhsin Bridge Construction of Ankeng Metro System in New Taipei City in Taiwan

The Ankeng Light Rail Metro System (ALRMS) is a Design-Build (DB) construction project located in New Taipei City. The Anhsin Bridge (AB) is one of the major parts of ALRMS. The original concept from the client, the Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DRTS), New Taipei City Government, was to design Anhsin Bridge as a steel arch bridge, which inevitably would require construction of some piers in the river reservation zone. Also, a temporary access bridge would be necessary during the erection of the steel frame. All these would pose a harmful situation for the river flow. Considering environmental sustainability, the contractor proposed a sustainable construction method, the unbalanced cable-stayed design with truss frames (UBCSTF), to build the Anhsin Bridge. Without constructing piers in the river reservation zone, the pylon of the Anhsin Bridge was laid on a 5.5m thickness foundation supported by 42 2m-diameter bored piles. A friendly environmental achievement was made by adopting UBCSTF. In this paper, the authors will share the rare construction experiences with the Anhsin Bridge construction, and present the detailed design concept, construction, and environmental sustainability achievements in this project.

Comparison of DB to DBB on highway projects in Washington State, USA

Comparative evaluations of design-build (DB), to design-bid-build (DBB), aredocumented in literature. However, a recent study suggests that even though several studies have been completed to compare DB and DBB, there are few statistically significant comparative results. Comparative analyses of highway projects of the same scope, size, and type could provide the basis to make the argument for the use of either DB or DBB on highway projects. The objective of this research is to compare DB to DBB on highway projects. The basis of comparison includes project cost, contract duration, number and type of contract change orders. Projects used for this research were obtained from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The projects were subsequently selected based on project scope,size, and type, and then analysed using quantitative methods. The research found that there is enough evidence to support the use of DB over DBB on highway projects. The findings of this study have significant implications for practitioners and policymakers on highway projects and should inform decisions on the choice of project delivery method. The main limitation of the research is that the study used only 14 projects due to the difficulty of finding matching projects,and as such the results could not be generalized. However, the findings add to the body of research on criteria for comparing DB to DBB. To enhance understanding of how project scope, size, and type might affect or be affected by project delivery methods,the research recommends the standardization of project types classification for highway projects

Effect of Level of Owner-Provided Design on Contractor’s Design Quality in DB/EPC Projects

AbstractAlthough previous studies have suggested that the level of owner-provided design can influence the performance of design-build (DB) projects, few have explicitly and empirically investigate...

Evaluating the Influence of Differing Geotechnical Risk Perceptions on Design-Build Highway Projects

AbstractManaging geotechnical risk in design-build (DB) projects is complicated because the contract is awarded before a thorough subsurface investigation is conducted, making geotechnical uncertai...

Strategic design under uncertain evaluations: structural analysis of design‐build auctions

AbstractI investigate firms' competition over price and product design under uncertain design evaluations in the context of Design‐Build (DB) auctions. Reviewers' design evaluations contain uncertainty from a bidder's perspective, leading luck to dampen differences in the firms' chances of winning. I model bidders' behavior and show semiparametric identification of the model primitives. Uncertain design evaluations increase the expected price of design quality and exacerbate an auctioneer's uncertainty in auction outcomes. These effects are mostly due to changes in bidding strategies. Bid ranking swaps due to uncertain evaluations account for a small share of these effects.

Artificial Neural Network Model to relate Organization Characteristics and Construction Project Delivery Methods

This study aims to relate organizational characteristics on preferences for project delivery methods (PDMs) in construction industry of Pakistan. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based model is developed for predicting proportion of projects done by different types of organizations under various PDMs. It is found that ANN model give satisfactory accuracy in predicting these proportions for test and training datasets. It is found that client organizations are more inclined towards traditional methods, especially Design-Bid-Build (DBB). Consultant organizations had relatively higher proportion of projects done by Design-Build (DB) and other non-traditional methods. Most of the construction organizations belong to the private sector which showed an inclination towards DBB and DB methods. The non-traditional PDMs had relatively higher preference for organizations who are involved in infrastructure or other specialized projects. Organizations who have more projects showed more tendency towards non-traditional PDMs.

Complex integrity and the improved DB mode in infrastructure mega-projects: how does the improved DB mode degrade the complex integrity of infrastructure mega-projects? Evidence from the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project in China

Complex integrity is one of the main characteristics of infrastructure mega-projects (IMPs). Cost, technology, risk, duration, environmental impact, and other uncertain complexities are interrelated and constitute a challenging and complex management problem. At present, there is no unified understanding of or solutions to these complex integrity problems. This study analyzes the complex integrity of the island-tunnel subproject of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) project and proposes an improved design-build (DB) mode in which the owner provides a preliminary design and has the right to form and manage consortium. This improved DB mode creatively degrades the special complexities that arise from multiple dimensions. On this basis, it is an efficacious way to grasp the main contradictions, integrate the effective resources, and degrade the complex integrity in multiple dimensions and at multiple levels so as to effectively deal with the complexity management of IMPs.

Project procurement systems for mechanical, electrical and piping projects in Saudi Arabia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the empirical relationship between mechanical, electrical, and piping (MEP) project procurement systems and project performance in the context of the Saudi Arabian construction industry. The study plans to expand the understanding of the relationship of design-bid-build (DBB) and design-build (DB) performance with respect to change order rate, cost growth, and schedule growth.Design/methodology/approachThe paper statistically analyzed 207 MEP projects. It investigates the relationship of project procurement systems and three project performance indicators. Hypotheses testing was used to assess the relationship.FindingsThe results show that projects using the DB procurement system are more likely to have less cost overrun and experience a lower change order rate compared to DBB for pricing and selection methods, yet neither procurement system had an advantage over the schedule duration based on the study’s sample.Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of information identifying the cause of contract change orders limits the interpretation of the findings. Sample sizes in some of the test criteria were statistically small, thus limiting the reliability or confidence level of the analysis for those samples. Caution should be used when interpreting the results as representative of the Saudi Arabian construction industry as a whole; due to the owner’s project execution policies, procedures, and standards, the level of enforcement of those practices may differ from other owners.Originality/valueThe paper fulfills and identified the relationship between the project procurement system and MEP project performance in the context of the Saudi Arabian construction industry.

USE OF THE ALTERNATIVE TECHNICAL CONCEPTS IN TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS

The use of Alternative Technical Concepts (ATC) is becoming widespread in design-build transportation projects in the United States. According to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ATC is a request by a proposer (usually in design-build projects) to modify a contract requirement for gaining competitive advantage over competition. The owner, usually a state department of transportation, requires that the ATC provide a better or at least equal solution to the owner’s design requirements. In Design-Build (DB) projects, the ATC is usually proposed by a proposer during the Request for Proposal (RFP) process and is considered in the evaluation and selection of the proposers in conjunction with the Best Value (BV) method of selection. In this paper, the authors have focused on two case studies involving ATC implementation and negotiations with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) highlighting advantages and disadvantages of using ATC in DB contracts. In each case, the nature of ATC and the approval process is discussed. In the first case, the approved ATCs provided the proposer with a clear advantage in winning a contract with the agency despite not being the low bidder. In the second case, the proposed and approved ATCs did not result in winning a contract despite being the low bidder.

Design and Build: Perception of Project Owners and Contractors on Cost in Java, Indonesia

Design-build (DB) is a project delivery that has already been used widely in USA, UK, Singapore and in other countries. However, it is not widely used in Indonesia and there are limited studies available on DB. The purpose of this paper is to quantify project owners’ and contractors’ opinions about the perceived benefits of DB in terms of cost in Java, Indonesia. The quantitative research design using survey study was conducted to evaluate stakeholders’ opinion on the impact of DB on cost. Survey forms with questionnaires were sent to ten project owners and ten contractors. Inferential statistics using t-test was used to compare the perception between them. The result shows that project owners and contractors agree that DB project delivery has some benefits on cost. However, implementation has to be improved in order for DB to be a preferable project delivery option.

Two Decades of Performance Comparisons for Design-Build, Construction Manager at Risk, and Design-Bid-Build: Quantitative Analysis of the State of Knowledge on Project Cost, Schedule, and Quality

AbstractMeasuring the performance of design build (DB), construction manager at risk (CMR), and design-bid-build (DBB) delivery methods has been the subject of many construction research studies. T...

Effects of Front-End Planning under Fast-Tracked Project Delivery Systems for Industrial Projects

ABSTRACTFront-end planning (FEP) may be a key element in project success because it helps project participants more efficiently mitigate risk and define project objectives in the preplanning phase. However, very little is known about the effect of FEP for industrial project performance under different project delivery systems. To this end, this study investigated the impact of FEP on project performance by focusing on two widely used fast-track delivery methods: design-build (DB) and construction manager at risk (CMR), compared to the benchmarking conventional design-bid-build (DBB). The Spearman’s correlation analysis and Kruskal-Wallis test were performed on a real-world dataset, obtained from the Construction Industry Institute (CII), which comprised 438 industrial projects built between 1990 and 2010 in the US. The correlation analysis results revealed that better FEP resource allocation could help more design packages be completed efficiently and accurately to accelerate the fast-track process. The pair-wise comparison analysis results confirmed that there is no significant evidence to examine particular difference of schedule performance between CMR and DB. On the other hand, the results highlighted that project cost performance under DB were better than CMR. The results and findings of this study will help decision-makers choose appropriate project delivery methods for given project priorities.

Logistic regression analysis for factors influencing cost performance of design-bid-build and design-build projects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the influencing factors of cost performance of design-bid-build (DBB) and design-build (DB) projects and comparing the differences of influencing factors between these two delivery methods.Design/methodology/approachThis research identified and refined 14 influencing factors through literature review and academic expert discussions. Questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data about the influencing factors and project cost performance. Then those factors were reduced to four components by factor analysis. Logistic regression analysis is used to investigate the relationship between four principal components and project cost performance.FindingsThe results indicate that the significant influencing factors of project cost performance of DBB projects and DB projects are different. For DBB projects, owner abilities, such as owner team ability, owner experience, and owner finance, are important influencing factors causing cost overruns, while for DB projects cost performance is more sensitive to the contractor abilities, namely, contractor team ability, contractor finance, contractor experience, etc.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the paper are mainly derived by quantitative research method based on the survey of 144 samples, so the results may need validation by qualitative studies. Further research could apply case study or interview to validate the findings in this research. In addition, project type and location are not considered as control variables due to the limited number of samples, future research could be conducted to investigate their relationship with project performance.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research not only help practitioners have a better understanding of the factors influencing project cost performance, but also provide some guidelines for practitioners to pay attention to different factors to better control the cost performance within different delivery systems.Originality/valueOwner ability and contractor ability are found to be of different importance in influencing cost performance of DBB and DB projects. This research extends previous research on cost management by considering different significant factors in influencing project cost performance within DBB and DB projects.

Assessment of State Agencies’ Practices in Managing Geotechnical Risk in Design–Build Projects

Policies and procedures of state highway agencies for articulating geotechnical information and requirements on design–build (DB) projects are the means to manage the geotechnical risk. Successful approaches and practices to managing geotechnical risk not only reduce the level of geotechnical uncertainty for both the owner and the competing design–builder but also distribute the remaining geotechnical risk between the parties. Discussed here are the differences with regard to geotechnical risk management, aspects of the DB procurement process, and contract aspects between state departments of transportation (DOTs) with experience delivering projects using the DB process versus those that are not as experienced. Results are presented from two independent sources of information: one was obtained through a literature review of aspects related to geotechnical requirements and management of DB projects and the other was obtained through an online survey of 38 state DOTs. Results of the study statistically demonstrate the value of DB experience in managing geotechnical risk and, accordingly, a set of recommended practices for agencies that are relatively new to DB project delivery, during both procurement and contract formation, is presented.

Design-Bid-Build (DBB) vs. Design-Build (DB) in the U.S. public transportation projects: The choice and consequences

Should public-sector owners use Design-Build or Design-Bid-Build to deliver projects? To seek answers to this question, this study tackles the following questions related to fundamental decisions in the procurement process: 1) For which project owners are likely to employ one delivery method or the other? 2) To which contractor owners tend to award Design-Build projects? and 3) How different are the consequences of the decisions between the two methods in terms of cost and schedule? Economic theories of contract selection suggest that Design-Build would fit better with large, environmentally uncertain, and technologically challenging projects, thereby, requiring better-qualified contractors. However, analyses of comprehensive data on public transportation projects in Florida reveal some misfits between theories and the reality. Regardless, Design-Build seems advantageous to schedule control, while cost advantages of one method over the other is still inconclusive. This study concludes with some implications of these findings for efficient deliveries of public infrastructure projects.

The Current Practice of Design and Build Procurement Process in Malaysia

This paper discusses the design-build project delivery method which is becoming an increasingly viable alternative to traditional project delivery method in the public sector. This interest has led to dialogue among public sector agencies to establish and formalise understanding of the design-build process and its implementation. The process consists of six stages namely Project Definition, Request for Qualification, Request for Proposal, Proposal Submission and Evaluation, Contract Award, and Document/Construction. Therefore, this finding of Design-Build (DB) procurement process is on the improvement and understanding on an owner and contractor in practice and implementation in Malaysia. 
 Keywords: design/build, design/bid/build, advantage and disadvantage, procurement process

Performance of Design-Build and Design-Bid-Build Projects for Public Universities

AbstractIn an economy with an unsure market and scarce work for construction projects, public owners across the United States, especially universities, are using alternative project delivery methods to complete their projects within cost and schedule. As an alternate delivery method to design-bid-build (DBB), public universities across the United States are beginning to use design-build (DB) to construct their facilities. In order to analyze and compare DB and DBB projects, this study used 77 building projects built by planning and construction divisions of United States public universities. Statistical tests were conducted to determine if metrics related to cost, schedule, and change orders were significantly different from each other in these two types of projects. Results showed that DB projects significantly outperformed DBB projects in terms of schedule saving. The study also found that the number of construction change orders was significantly lower in DB projects than in DBB projects. The primary c...

Life cycle cost evaluation of alternatives to the nuclear density gauge for compaction testing on design-build projects

When Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) implemented design–build (DB) contracting, it revised its quality assurance programme and shifted most of the compaction testing to the design-builder. As a result, fewer compaction tests were performed by state personnel and the need for speedy quality control testing by the agency to facilitate construction production disappeared. This paper reports the results of a study conducted by the department to evaluate three alternatives to the nuclear density gauge (NDG) using life cycle cost analysis and cost index number theory. The study’s objective was to investigate alternative soil compaction test devices and provide input to a decision regarding whether or not MoDOT should retain or replace the NDG. Despite the NDG successful track record, the ease of employment and speed with which the compaction results are delivered comes with a price in terms of life cycle costs. The NDG is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and entails an onerous, ongoing administrative workload to permit its continued use. The NDG also incurs additional certification, storage and disposal costs, not found in non-nuclear compaction testing alternatives. This paper reports the results of a life cycle cost analysis of NDG and three alternatives: dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP), electrical density gauge and the sand cone (SC). The study finds that the SC and DCP are the most cost-effective but are the least cost-effective when measured on a basis of timely results. Thus, the NDG replacement/retention decision becomes one of how fast are compaction tests required by the agency. Since MoDOT has adopted contractor acceptance testing in its DB program, it now only conducts verification testing of contractor test results. Thus, the paper recommends that the NDG be replaced.

Job Order Contracting Performance and Industry Analysis

The construction industry has had difficulty in delivering projects efficiently, in a timely manner and within budget. Approximately 2.5% of all global projects are delivered on time and on budget. Over the past 24 years, research has been conducted at Arizona State University to identify the source of project inefficiencies. As a result of 1800+ tests, researchers have concluded that a primary cause in project performance (time, cost and customer satisfaction) is the traditional owner-vendor relationship in which the owner uses a design, and build (DBB) approach. The industry has come up with other approaches such as design-build (DB) and construction management @ risk (CMAR) in hopes of decreasing the delivery time and lowering the project cost. However, in the latest industry study done comparing the different approaches, there are still no significant conclusions about which process is the most efficient. Deductive logic identifies that the contractor typically has more expertise than the owner does. Research shows that low bid and MDC could increase project costs and time up to 30%. Job Order Contracting (JOC) is a delivery system focused on minimizing the owner's repeated design and procurements and MDC on projects, by enabling a greater utilization of vendor expertise. This report examines the perspective of 47 owners and 13 contractors who have collectively delivered over $5 billion of construction services in JOC projects. The results of this survey effort suggest that JOC users are highly satisfied with its overall performance and are seeing better project outcomes and cost savings compared to more traditional methodologies.

Contractual Approaches to Address Geotechnical Uncertainty in Design-Build Public Transportation Projects

AbstractGeotechnical uncertainty may be the most difficult risk to manage in construction. In design-build (DB), where the project’s price is fixed before design and in many cases the subsurface in...