Procurement Methods: Benefits & Drawbacks in Construction Projects

This report provides a detailed analysis of three different procurement methods used in construction projects: design-bid-build, design-build, and construction management. For each method, the report discusses the advantages and disadvantages for various stakeholders, including the client/developer, consultants, builders, subcontractors, and end-users. The design-bid-build method is presented as a traditional approach with a linear process, while the design-build method offers a single point of responsibility. Construction management, particularly CM At-risk, is explored as a variation of design-bid-build. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of selecting the appropriate procurement method based on project needs and ethical considerations, offering advice from the perspective of advising a potential owner/developer. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources.

Running head: PROCUREMENT METHODS
PROCUREMENT METHODS
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Executive summary
The process of procuring the entities for the goods, services and the works acquiring is the
procurement methods. It can be both competitive and non-competitive. The delivery method
of design-bid-build is the most popular method of construction. The design build method is
the system of delivery of projects of construction that involves the complete responsibility of
the designing and the building of the construction to a sole member. The scope for the
deployment of this method is in both the new home construction and the home renovation
and it is considered as the alternative of the conventional method of design-bid-build. The
securing of the services of a construction manager is a variation of the method of design-bid-
build. The most commonly deployed mechanism of the construction management is the CM
At-risk.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Discussion......................................................................................................................3
Design-bid-build method...........................................................................................3
Advantages.............................................................................................................3
Disadvantages........................................................................................................4
Design build method..................................................................................................6
Advantages.............................................................................................................6
Disadvantages........................................................................................................8
Construction management..........................................................................................8
Advantages.............................................................................................................9
Disadvantages........................................................................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................11
References....................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
This report aims to discuss the positive and negative aspects of the three procurement
methods for construction projects. The advantages and the disadvantages of the design-bid-
build method is clearly discussed in this report. The advantages and the disadvantages of the
design build method is stated in this report. The advantages and the disadvantages of the
construction methods is clearly stated in this report. Lastly, this report concludes with an
appropriate conclusion of this report.
The methods that are utilised by the procuring entity for acquiring goods, services
and works is known as procurement methods. The methods of procurement can be both
competitive and non-competitive (Arney et al. 2014).
Discussion
Design-bid-build method
This delivery method is a conventional method of construction. This process includes
the selection by the owner and then hiring of professionals of design for producing
construction or/and design documents that are to be utilised in the Request for proposals of
the qualified builders (Bergman and Lundberg 2013). In the above mentioned situation, the
drawing of contracts is dissimilar for the contractor and the designer and there is a minimum
involvement of the builder in the phase of designing of the project.
Advantages
The advantages of this method are:
 The owner plays a higher role in the process of designing
 The extra willing participants of bidding such as contractors are increasingly
familiar with the approach

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 Possesses increased flexibility for the changes in design
 The approach is a standard contracting method (Brook 2016)
 The linear process of the design-bid-build is easier for the owners to understand
and manage
 The scheduling is straightforward as the phases of designing and construction are
sequential and not overlapping.
 The process of design-bid-build benefits from the professional responsibility of
the architect for designing a building of quality and act on the owner’s behalf
 As soon as the contractor makes a cost commitment, it is reliable as it is based on
the nearly completed documents of design.
 The roles of construction and the design are different and very knowledgeable,
which makes the liability and the responsibility is relatively flawless
 The owners possesses the chance of reviewing the competitive bids for the costs
of construction (De and Goswami 2014)
 In this approach, the contractors are increasingly familiar with the process and the
work.
 The activeness of the architects in the administration of the construction is higher
than other methods so that the intentions of design are carried through the
construction
Disadvantages
The disadvantages are:
 The overall method is slower
 The collaboration between the design team and the builder is limited
 The orders of change is more similar with the help of this method (DeCorla-Souza
et al. 2013)

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 The disputes are increasingly more common and these disputes can lead to more
delays
 The cost of construction is not firmly established till the stage of design is
completed
 There can be a delay in the projects and the cost of the projects can rise if the bids
increases over the budget, and this can also lead to increased cost of redesign,
value engineering and the rebidding processes
 No benefit is obtained by the architect from the advice of the contractor in the
aspect of constructability and the costs during the phase of designing
 The availability of the knowledge of any kind of advanced technology of
construction that is offered by the subcontractors and the common contractors is
relatively low in this approach
 As the competition among the contractors is carried out on the basis of the lowest
bids, any kind of gaps or modifications in the documents of design can lead to
several openings for the contractors to delay construction and/or alter the orders
 The acceptance of the long processes of this approach can be unacceptable for the
owners (Díaz-Yáñez et al. 2013
 As this process is linear, some kind of delay in the phases can set back the
complete schedule
 The delays in the construction can lead to the increase in the costs for the owners
and the architects
Design build method
The process of design build is a delivery system of construction project that employs a
sole member, the full responsibility for the designing and building a project of construction is
referred as design build method. This method is deployed in both the construction of new

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home and the renovation of home as the alternative of the conventional method of design-bid-
build.
The construction process of design to build is the method of project delivery that
starts with the contracting of the owners with any general contractor for being completely
responsible for both the designing and the construction of the home project (Dumea et al.
2013)
Advantages
The advantages of the design build method are:
Responsibility of a single source: the accountability of a single source, which is the general
contractor, is the major aspect in the definition of the design build. The owner and the
common contractor involves into a contract of design build that necessitates the general
contractor to enable the project design of the home. The duty of the general contractor is to
turn the designs and build according to the architecture, lifestyle and the criteria of finance
that is provided to the owner. The process of build design efficiently transfers the risk of the
owners that is related with the conventional method of design-bid-build to the common
contractor.
Cost reduction: the process of design build reduces the cost of the complete project with the
efficiency of the total process. It saves the expense with the help of streamlining of the
complete home design, and hence reduces both, the timeline and the claims of the errors in
design by the general contractors. The errors in planning and the omission shall normally be
charged to the owner with the method of change orders by the common contractor. This
method of delivery contributes to the cost savings by the intrinsic ability of the home
designer and the general contractor to cooperate in the value engineering the design (ED
Love et al. 2014).

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Time savings: the contribution of the time savings from the method of the design build are
majorly the result of the efficiencies of the process. The design budget pricing is provided by
the general contractor during the process of complete design. As the product selection and the
design of the home evolves, the accuracy of the construction budget also evolves. The
efficiency occurs with the elimination of both the bid procurement and the time that is
required for the redesigning for maintaining the goals of the budget.
Increased control of the project for the owner: The method of design build offers a higher
control to the owner throughout the complete design and the cost of construction than the
conventional method of design-bid-build. As the cost saving aspect is higher in this method
and the savings of time and the lower risk of the claims and the liability that is experienced
by the owner is lower in this process, the owner achieves higher control over the project than
the conventional design-bid-build method (Gong and Zhou 2015).
Reduction of the claims of exposure: The change of the orders are a common occurrence in
the projects of construction by owners and the design. Some of the changes in the orders
occurs due to the changing of the minds of the owners, while some changes occur due to the
errors in design and the omissions. The method of design build diminishes these categories of
cost exposure by transferring the projects to the general contractor. The contracting method
of design build creates the general contractor solely responsible to the owner for these kinds
of expenses of claims.
Value engineering: With the evolvement of the process of design, the owner can insist on the
particular architectural features or the design elements while requiring to maintain the budget
of construction. The general contractor is required during these times for value engineering
the design for trying to reduce the cost of production or construction in several areas of the

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home design. The task of value engineering is majorly executed by the home designer and the
master builder as the design evolves.
Optimum efficiency of project: the method of design build is an increased efficient process
than the conventional methods. This method is a process of collaboration between the
members of home design, owner, and the general contractor. This effort in collaborating is
generally referred as the team of design. The design team is led by the master builder for
achieving the desired goals that are developed during the phase of conceptual design (Idiake
et al. 2015).
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of this method are as follows:
Lesser control of the owners over the design: This method can lead to the sacrificing of
some control over the complete design as the owners experience trade-offs among the design
and the budget. This is not unique characteristic to the process of design build. The owners
faces the exact sacrifice of the decisions in the method of design-bid-build, even though the
plans are completed before the discovery of the factors takes place.
Lack of competitive pricing: the lack in the competitive bidding that takes place by the
process of design building makes the greatest flaw in the situation of serving the interest of
the client. The design build inherently permits the master builder to ignore the bidding of the
subcontractor that is competitive, which leads to the escalation of pricing (Masterman and
Masterman 2013).
Construction management
One of the variation of the method of design-bid-build is the securing of the services
of a construction manager. The At-risk of the construction manager can be utilised rather than
bidding on the project to the common contractors. The construction manager of an agency

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acts as the advisor to the client. The most popular method of construction management is CM
At-risk, where the risk to the owner is reduced by an independent professional because the
CMAR or the construction management at-risk clenches the agreements of subcontract
(Porwal and Hewage 2013).
Advantages
The advantages are as follows:
 The owner obtains several advices on the budget, schedule, and the constructability
throughout the phase of design
 The CMAR can offer advice of value-engineering for saving the time and money of
the client
 The CMAR is solely responsible for the scheduling and budgeting
 CMAR commonly offers a GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price)
 The owner gains a knowledge about the profits of the customers on the projects and
any kind of change in orders
 The initiation of the construction can be done without the completion of the design
(Ruparathna and Hewage 2013)
Disadvantages
The disadvantages are:
 The level of communication between the CMAR and the owner needs to be
maintained at the highest level
 The cooperation of the architect is required for working out the details of designing
prior the construction and throughout the construction
 The cost of the construction can rise up significantly if the flaws in the designs is not
detected before the construction starts

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 This method requires the involvement of the negotiation of two dissimilar contracts
and it requires careful language of contract for establishing responsibilities of every
party (Toktaş-Palut et al. 2014)
Work supplies services
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Procurement methods
CM
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Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that the procurement methods are essential for the
construction of projects. The methods that are utilised by the procuring entity for acquiring
goods, services and works is known as procurement methods. The design-bid-build delivery
method is a conventional method of construction. This process includes the selection by the
owner and then hiring of professionals of design for producing construction or/and design
documents that are to be utilised in the Request for proposals of the qualified builders. There
are several advantages of the design-bid-build method and it consists of some disadvantages.
The process of design build is a delivery system of construction project that employs a sole
member, the full responsibility for the designing and building a project of construction is
referred as design build method. The advantages of this method are responsibility of a single
source is generated, cost reduction, time savings, increased control of the project for the
owner, reduction of the claims of exposure, value engineering, and increase in the optimum
efficiency of project. The disadvantages of this method are lesser control of the owners over
the design and the lack of competitive pricing. One of the variation of the method of design-
bid-build is the securing of the services of a construction manager. The most popular method
of construction management is CM At-risk.