Sheerr McCrystal Palson New London, N.H.

A R C H I T E C T U R E - D E S I G N - P L A N N I N G

Selecting a Project Delivery Method

	Clients often ask us whether construction management or the traditional bid method is a better way to assure the greater value for the project. We believe that these two methods should be viewed as alternate tools; they can be selected and applied when the situation calls for them. We have developed criteria to help decide which method is more suitable to a particular project:

Construction Management :
	Construction management is best used when one or more of these circumstances make it attractive: 1 The project will be phased over time; 2 Critical deadlines must be met (e.g. school has to open); 3 The project is a messy renovation with a lot of unknowns; 4 One CM has an outstanding reputation and/or has done previous projects with the client; 5 The project is extremely cost driven, in which case the CM could offer ideas during design and give repeated cost estimates to the client and architect; 6 The bidding environment is currently non-competitive or unpredictable;
Traditional Bid:
	The traditional bidding approach is most successful when the following conditions are met: 1 The project will be built at once; 2 Timing is not critical; there is adequate time for complete documentation and additional winter costs can easily be avoided. 3 The project is a new building with few unknowns; 4 There are many qualified contractors who would like to bid and build the building; 5 Legal or political constraints prevent a negotiated arrangement. 6 Contractors are currently hungry for work and bidding aggressively.
	Given these criteria, there are additional factors that should be reviewed. Some CM’s are notorious for playing games, both during selection (i.e., what is in the fee and general conditions?) and during construction (i.e., estimating the GMP [guaranteed maximum price] high, then playing the hero at the end of the project after features that could have been afforded are cut out). Multiple CM’s can “bid” a project if the documents are complete, giving a GMP along with their qualifications for selection criteria. Traditional bidding should be undertaken with the caveat that the bidders be pre-qualified and that a select list of no more than six are chosen. You will not be well served by a totally open public bid, since there is a very real danger that a nonqualified bidder might make a mistake or lowball the bid, and then complicate matters during construction. There is less room for criticism about favoritism with a select bid of six vs. selecting one CM, although there may still be some sour grapes from firms that are not selected. The compiling of a select bid list is not completely objective. You may want to advertise for letters of interest and qualifications just to ensure that you had given everyone an equal opportunity. Sheerr McCrystal Palson typically assists by screening potential bidders and making recommendations. We ask for more information from firms with which we are not familiar (asking them informally how busy they are right now, etc.).