TABLE OF CONTENTS The design and construction industry in North America, and those parts of the industry focused on buildings and civil infrastructure projects in particular, is a very fragmented industry. In traditional procedures used to design and construct facilities, the designers are required by professional ethics and by the nature of the competitive methods used to select general contractors, to maintain an arm s-length relationship with builders, trade subcontractors, material suppliers, and others on the construction side of the industry. Owners must hire architectural and engineering designers separately from builders. They, in response to the owners programs, prepare 100 percent complete construction documents, also referred to as plans and specifications. Builders, in turn, are forced by price competition to select subcontractors, equipment, and materials on the basis of the lowest price for the work or item that meets the detailed requirements of the owners bidding documents. Because builders or general contractors are most often selected on the basis of price, they have little opportunity to offer the owners alternative design solutions other than limited material choices or superficial design options. The three separate sequential steps required by this process are referred to as the design-bid-build project delivery method.
With the advent of the post World War II building boom in North America, owners sought alternatives to the split responsibilities of the design-bid-build method of project delivery. One of the first alternative procedures employed by owners was the engagement of a construction manager whose responsibilities included the transfer of...
