DBIA Procuring Design-Build Services 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In a Best-Value procurement, which factor most directly distinguishes it from a low-bid selection?
- Award is based solely on the lowest proposed price
- Award considers both price and qualitative factors such as team qualifications and technical approach (Correct answer)
- Award is determined by a lottery among pre-qualified firms
- Award is based exclusively on the design-builder's past safety record
Correct answer: Award considers both price and qualitative factors such as team qualifications and technical approach
Best-Value selection weighs qualitative factors (qualifications, technical approach, past performance) alongside price rather than awarding on price alone.
Question 2: What is the primary purpose of an industry review (or 'industry forum') conducted before issuing an RFP?
- To officially pre-qualify design-build teams
- To allow owners to gather market feedback and refine procurement documents before release (Correct answer)
- To score shortlisted firms on technical capacity
- To negotiate contract terms with the preferred proposer
Correct answer: To allow owners to gather market feedback and refine procurement documents before release
Industry forums allow owners to present draft procurement documents to potential proposers, gather feedback, and improve document quality before formal release.
Question 3: Under DBIA best practices, which document type is typically released first in a two-phase design-build procurement?
- Request for Proposals (RFP)
- Request for Qualifications (RFQ) (Correct answer)
- Notice to Proceed (NTP)
- Invitation for Bid (IFB)
Correct answer: Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
In two-phase procurement, an RFQ is issued first to establish a shortlist of qualified teams before the full RFP is released to those firms.
Question 4: A design-build RFP that specifies performance criteria rather than prescriptive specifications primarily benefits the owner by:
- Reducing the number of responding firms and simplifying evaluation
- Allowing design-builders to innovate and propose solutions that best meet project goals (Correct answer)
- Ensuring all proposers submit identical technical approaches for easy comparison
- Shifting all design liability to the owner's retained engineer
Correct answer: Allowing design-builders to innovate and propose solutions that best meet project goals
Performance-based criteria encourage innovation by allowing design-builders to propose optimal solutions rather than prescribing a single design approach.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes a 'stipend' in design-build procurement?
- A penalty assessed against a proposer for late submission
- Compensation paid to unsuccessful shortlisted proposers to offset proposal development costs (Correct answer)
- A bonus paid to the selected design-builder upon project completion
- A deposit required from all proposers to ensure good-faith participation
Correct answer: Compensation paid to unsuccessful shortlisted proposers to offset proposal development costs
Stipends are payments made to unsuccessful shortlisted proposers to partially offset their proposal preparation costs and encourage high-quality submissions.
Question 6: When an owner uses a Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) for design-build, price negotiation occurs:
- Before any qualifications are evaluated
- After the most qualified firm is selected (Correct answer)
- Simultaneously with technical scoring for all shortlisted firms
- Only if the initial budget is exceeded during design
Correct answer: After the most qualified firm is selected
In QBS, the owner selects the most qualified firm first and then negotiates a fair and reasonable price, similar to the Brooks Act model for A/E services.
Question 7: Which contract provision is most important for defining the design-builder's obligation when the owner's RFP contains conflicting performance requirements?
- A force majeure clause
- An order of precedence clause (Correct answer)
- A differing site conditions clause
- A warranty clause
Correct answer: An order of precedence clause
An order of precedence clause establishes which contract document governs when conflicts exist between the RFP, proposals, drawings, and specifications.
DBIA Procuring Design-Build Services 2
In a Best-Value procurement, which factor most directly distinguishes it from a low-bid selection?