DBIA Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the DBIA exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 DBIA Exam Format at a Glance
📚 DBIA Topics to Study (130)
✍️ Sample DBIA Questions & Answers
1. When advocating for design-build enabling legislation at the state level, the DBIA recommends that 'best value' selection criteria be defined to include which combination of factors?
DBIA's advocacy for best-value selection specifically promotes an integrated evaluation that combines technical qualifications, past performance, proposed design approach, and price—allowing owners to make trade-off decisions rather than defaulting to lowest price. Post-award design quality evaluation or minimal qualifications weighting defeats the purpose of best-value selection and exposes owners to delivery risk.
2. A payment bond on a design-build project guarantees that:
A payment bond protects lower-tier parties—subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and suppliers—ensuring they are paid for labor and materials furnished to the project, even if the design-builder becomes insolvent. It is distinct from a performance bond, which protects the owner against non-completion.
3. Which statement best describes a primary advantage of the commissioning process within an integrated design-build project?
According to DBIA best practices, the integrated nature of design-build allows the commissioning plan and authority to be involved early in the design process. This ensures that the owner's performance requirements are understood, incorporated into the design, and that systems are designed for testability and maintainability, leading to a smoother turnover and a better-performing facility.
4. In design-build RFP development, the 'technical proposal' typically includes all of the following EXCEPT:
The final lump sum price is submitted in a separate price proposal, keeping technical evaluation independent from cost in a best-value selection process.
5. Which project characteristic is most likely to make design-bid-build more appropriate than design-build?
Owners with strong design expertise who want to direct design details benefit from retaining a separate designer under design-bid-build.
6. Which alternative dispute resolution (ADR) method results in a binding decision made by a neutral third party without court involvement?
Arbitration produces a binding decision from a neutral arbitrator or panel, making it enforceable without going through the court system.