TABLE OF CONTENTS Qualification-based selection, or QBS, is a method used by many owners of projects to procure engineering design services. It is an alternative method to soliciting bids for engineering work on design projects. It is, as you will see, the most prudent and fair method for procurement of design services.
Let's examine the underlying principles that support our preference for QBS over bidding.
When most owners decide they want something to be designed and constructed, they have little detail available as to what the final product will be. It is widely recognized, however, that the cost of engineering design is a small percentage of the construction costs required to bring most projects to completion. If one were to consider overall life cycle costs, including operation, maintenance, and financing, the engineering costs become even less significant. Yet at the inception stage, the owner often has little more than a project scope document with little detail.
The ability of an engineering firm to accurately forecast the investment in man hours, technology, and outside consultant support is limited. In fact, it is virtually impossible. The consequences of procuring design services through competitive bidding often results in the best firms not submitting bids, and those that do are risking winning a project that can result in significant cost overruns. Cost overruns put a significant strain on the firm, placing it in an untenable position that may require reduction of costs in whatever way possible. Such circumstances can lead to reduction of...
