Design-Build Project Administration Practices for the Water Industry

Water utilities are often required to continue building and improving their water infrastructure assets to meet increasing demands. Innovative project delivery methods, such as design-build (DB), integrate the design and construction phases and are implemented by water utilities to further advance the delivery of their water transmission pipeline projects. The objective of this study was to present effective DB project administration practices specifically for the water industry. An elaborate interview protocol was developed to collect information from utilities that have extensive experience delivering DB water projects. Interviews were conducted with 10 utilities in the United States and Canada. DB practices were examined under seven key DB project administration categories. A selection of effective DB project administration practices revealed by this study include (1) using a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) and finalizing it later in the design process; (2) providing the risk register to the design-builder to maintain during the design and construction process; and (3) using qualification-based procurement. This study contributes to the literature by identifying a wide selection of effective DB project administration practices that may support utilities in the delivery of their water infrastructure projects.