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Public and private sector owners are the parties that take the lead in determining the procurement and contracting strategies for their capital projects. A major part of business is working with owners and their project advisors in thinking through the most effective means of procuring, contracting and delivering a program or project. We work intimately with the owner’s team on these assignments – often by facilitating a workshop or using other interactive processes to brainstorm options and implement best industry practices.
Owners use our procurement and contracting expertise in two ways. On a programmatic basis, when there is no specific project involved, we help the owner’s team:
- Assess market conditions for procuring design and construction services, including the industry’s current ability to tolerate risk.
- Assess how an owner’s overall procurement and contracting structure compares with best industry practices.
- Critique existing procurement documents and draft modifications to documents to reflect best industry practices.
- Conduct reviews of applicable procurement laws and determine how they may impact a project.
- Assess and draft changes to project delivery and procurement statutes.
- Conduct a “lessons learned” review of an owner’s existing procurement and contracting practices.
We also assist owners on specific projects by helping their team:
- Determine the most appropriate project delivery system for the project, including a review of how the owner’s goals and the project’s characteristics fit with design-bid-build, design-build, construction management (both at-risk and advisory), and other delivery systems.
- Determine the merits of retaining a developer or other third-party advisor to be part of the owner’s project team.
- Conduct a project risk assessment to identify, measure, and mitigate risks.
- Evaluate how to deal with project stakeholders.
- Determine the most effective contracting methodology (e.g., cost reimbursable, target pricing, guaranteed maximum price) to use on the project.
- Determine the most effective procurement strategy for the project, including assessing the critical commercial issues (e.g., stipends, ownership of proposal documents, proprietary meetings and selection criteria).
- Draft project-specific Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that embody the procurement strategies agreed upon by the owner.
- Assess responses from proposers and help determine which proposer offers the best value to the owner.
Our services for contractors, designers, and construction managers in the procurement and contracting area are a bit different than those we offer to owners, since these entities are usually responding to an owner’s stated program. Some of the services we perform on behalf of non-owner clients include:
- Reviewing specific procurement documents and evaluating the specific risks associated with the procurement.
- Conducting project-specific risk assessments.
- Determining the best means of structuring a team for a particular procurement.
- Determining proposal and market strategies.
- Assisting in the evaluation and creation of a procurement strategy for subcontractors.
Of course, when the contractor, designer, or construction manager is providing procurement and contracting support to an owner on a given project or program, we are often asked to help them through a staff augmentation subcontract.
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