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Design‐build project delivery will likely yield benefits when it is a rational choice by a program director or owner's construction manager. It is not well understood whether those benefits translate to construction programs where design‐build is mandated for the vast majority of project types. Such a determination for military construction (MILCON) is the purpose of this paper.

The methodology for the research involved a comparison of mean performance metrics for design‐build and design‐bid‐build MILCON projects. Once an appropriate sample of projects was identified, project data were corrected for project location, size and time‐value‐of‐money.

Military design‐build projects did experience a lower total cost of change orders as well as a reduced change order cost associated with field changes. Also, statistical analysis demonstrated no significant difference in project performance metrics based on facility type. These results indicate that design‐build project delivery method can work equally well on all types of MILCON projects and is an effective system for cost and scope control, but that some of the expected schedule performance gains underlying the decision to use design‐build will be difficult to achieve on all MILCON projects.

The paper presents advantages and disadvantages of utilising design‐build to MILCON projects by facility types.

Within construction procurement, transaction cost economics offers a mechanism to understand “unseen” costs associated with the pre- and post-contract work. Pre-contract, these include costs related to information gathering and procurement. Post-contract they include activities of contract administration and enforcement. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the magnitude of transaction costs (TCs) for different procurement systems used in construction projects in New Zealand. Specifically estimating the relative values of TCs for Traditional and Design-Build delivery systems for the purpose of comparison.

This study develops a conceptual model for the relationship between procurement systems and TC. The model was operationalized and developed into a questionnaire. A cross-sectional sample approach was deployed, involving pilot and survey questionnaires, and results verification through “real world” cases. Data were sought from construction professionals in management, design and operations (i.e. project managers, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and procurement officers). TCs were measured using time-spent conducting procurement-related activities as a surrogate for cost. Professionals evaluate their time-spent in procurement activities using a Likert scale 1-5, comparing the Traditional and Design-Build delivery systems. Data were triangulated with “real world” cases to test and explain the developed model. The test included validity and reliability, path analysis, regression analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation modelling (SEM). The primary analytical technique used was SEM to yield information on goodness-of-fit, model development and comparison, and confirmatory strategies. SPSS Amos 21 statistical software was used for data analysis and model development.

The results suggest that procurement systems have indirect impact on TCs. The relationship between procurement system and TCs is fully mediated by costs of information, procurement, administration, and enforcement. Applying the developed models (the Traditional and Design-Build) to “real world” cases, it was found that TCs in the Traditional system amounts to 18.5 percent of the annual salary cost of a project manager (as an indicator quantum), while in the Design-Build system, it amounts to 14.5 percent of the annual salary cost of a project manager. TCs were calculated using regression equations based on factor loadings in the Traditional and Design-Build models.

This study applies new theoretical model for the link between procurement system and TCs, investigating and empirically demonstrating the influence of procurement system on TCs in construction. It also offers a new plausible explanation for the factors influencing TCs in procurement. The study emphasizes “in-house” TCs from the perspective of the professionals. The findings have practical implications on construction business practice due to their robust empirical nature and theoretical framework, which might enhance the performance of the construction industry.

This study contributes to the procurement selection in construction, by introducing a new conceptual model for the link between procurement system and TCs. It has extended the current practices for procurement selection by estimating TCs for the Traditional and Design-Build systems for comparison.

For a public project leader charged with a construction project, it can be crucial to meet the budget, while maximizing the qualities within a construction project. A method to achieve this is to use the “opposite design build” procurement method, in which the price is fixed and the contractors compete on adding a wide range of qualities to the project. However, such procurement approaches are rare, and it is difficult to find models on how to implement such an approach.

This study firstly looks at the literature on design-build, quality-only as the main selection criterion and to some degree on constructors’ bidding behaviour. Secondly, it explains a model for a design-build, quality-only procurement designed within the public tendering legislations. Thirdly, it investigates the outcome of the model applied to a specific case in Norway.

There seems to be a research gap within literature and cases on design-build, quality-only selection with a fixed price. The developed model allowed for negotiations, which led to more comparable and improved bids. In the investigated case, and the client was able to implement more qualities in the project than expected within the budget.

The researcher was himself partly involved in the process as an advisor.

The developed method is relatively simple and might readily be applied by any client to maximise a project’s qualities within a given fixed price.

The long-term value should be to widen the range of useful procurement methods.

By way of its uniquely concurrent practice + academic learning model, the Boston Architectural College (BAC) has begun a thriving tradition of community engagement through design. This paper uncovers how design/build formats -cast as a service-learning projects - have the potential to foster profound student learning opportunities, improve the urban environment through design engagement and community action, and inform architectural accreditation. Though exceptionally rewarding, the design/build model is not without challenges. The authors utilize their unique perspectives as design educators and community members to deliver both a narrative account and critical analysis for a case study of one such learning model.

The Frederick Douglas Peace Park project, conducted in 2008 as part of the authors’ Urban Design Build (UDB) format is an example of a grassroots initiative met with the support of an institution of design education. The project revitalizes a neglected neighborhood by activating forgotten space - rebuilding a sense of community and creating a place of memorial for a much-revered American Civil Rights Activist. Emanating from Grichting’s neighborhood peace park, Sturgeon’s UDB project extended grassroots momentum to community event programming and served as a catalyst for additional reclamation projects: a string of public spaces and the rehabilitation of a community center once on the verge of being torn down and privatized.

Design-Build (DB) is known as the alternative for Design-Bid-Build in the Malaysian construction industry. For DB projects, it is critical to adopt effective decision support tool to ensure the execution of a systematic decision-making technique. This study aimed to examine the impact of a decision support tool for novice decision makers to reject or adopt DB for their construction projects.

Literature review and qualitative input from experts identified several key-selection factors pertaining to critical success factors and design-build drivers. This resulted in the development of Decision Support Tool for Design-Build (DST-DB). A quasi-experiment, which involved 382 novice decision makers in the construction industry, was conducted to test the DST-DB quantitatively. The participants were required to compare two construction projects using DST-DB and traditional decision-making methods. Multivariate analysis was performed to analyse all collected data.

The quasi-experiment data suggests that DST-DB enables significantly higher usability, likelihood, precision, confidence and satisfaction rate when compared to the traditional decision-making process. The pre- and post-surveys indicated that the DST-DB is effective in improving decision-making performance through selection factors of client-briefing, maximised resources and sharing expertise. The participants also agreed that DST-DB is easy to use and helps them to gain better understanding of the decision-making process for construction projects.

This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge through the impact of DST on the decisions of novices. The novice decision makers found that DST-DB is practically adaptable and comparatively effective for decision-making process than traditional decision-making methods. This contributes to the practical application of construction companies to provide DST-DB training to the fresh graduate employees to enhance their competencies in the decision-making process.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how a project alliance contract is conducive to the development of cooperative relationships between client and contractor organizations involved in a complex project.

A longitudinal case study of a complex construction project was conducted in which the contract was changed at the end of the negotiation period from a design‐build into a project alliance form.

Data show that opportunistic behaviour is reduced when there is an incentive structure, as is to be found in project alliances, for client and contractor organizations to cooperatively realize the project. However, it is not sufficient for project partners to agree upon an appropriate incentive structure. For cooperative relationships to develop, they also have to put substantial efforts into reducing their remaining inclinations to make use of opportunities that arise to deviate from the alliance contract.

It is shown that both principals and contractors not only need to carefully select staff for such projects; they also have to work with the people employed such that appropriate attitudes are reinforced and rewarded. Developing cooperative relationships in project alliances needs the surrounding working methods to offer support.

The longitudinal character of the case study offers exceptional opportunities for studying the dynamics in preventing and overcoming the deteriorating patterns of opportunistic behaviour that organizations regularly face in many traditional and design‐build projects.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and determine the time and cost performance of progressive design-build (PDB) projects compared with that of design-build (DB) projects. The objective is to provide empirical evidence on the performance of PDB delivery method.

A quantitative research approach was used by analyzing time and cost data collected on 75 PDB and 92 DB projects from the database of Design-Build Institute of America. One-way analysis of variance was used to determine statistical difference in time and cost performance between PDB and DB.

PDB projects have a comparatively better time performance than cost performance. When compared with DB projects, there was a statistically significant difference in time overrun with PDB performing better than DB (0.41 vs 8.0%). Additionally, about 80% of PDB projects had shorter or as scheduled duration compared to 74% for DB. There was no statistically significant difference of cost performance between PDB and DB.

The main limitation is the sample size of 72 PDB projects. It is recommended that further research should be conducted using a larger sample size to confirm the findings of this study.

PDB will be more beneficial for projects with sensitive deadlines. For an owner deciding between PDB and DB, the advantage of using PDB is in its time performance, which may lead to the project being completed on or ahead of time. As such, PDB can serve as another “tool in the toolbox” for owners to help in reducing construction delays.

This paper is the first attempt to provide an empirical evidence of the cost and time performance of PDB based on analyzing multiple projects. Owners will be better informed when selecting PDB for their projects.

An understanding of effective problem solving is essential for everyone involved in development teams. For most development projects, the design‐build‐test cycle is the fundamental building block of effective problem solving. Examines the design‐build‐test cycle and describes alternative modes of problem solving and their implications for organizational skills and capabilities. Examines how superior capabilities at conducting the cycle can be used to make dramatic improvements in individual product development efforts. Concludes by considering how a firm can leverage the problem‐solving ability into a competitive advantage.

One of the possible systems of project delivery is design & build (D&B), which is widely used in many countries. In the Polish public procurement market, the D&B system has been applied for a relatively short time, only since 2004, and despite the possibility, so far public clients have applied the D&B system only occasionally. This paper describes the current status of using the D&B method in the public procurement sector in Poland. Five hundred and fifty eight completed public-sector projects have been subject to analysis. Items analysed include the design/builder method of award, and types and value of contracts. The results provide insights for owners, the advantages and disadvantages of the D&B system, and highlight the need to change the method of selecting the contractor for the D&B system.

The renovation of existing building stock is seen as one the most practical ways to achieve the high energy savings targets for the built environment defined by European authorities. In France, the Grenelle environmental legislation addresses the need to renovate the building stock and specifically stresses the key role of social housing organisations. In recent years, French procurement rules have been modified in order to allow social housing organisations to make use of integrated contracts such as Design-Build-Maintain. These contracts have a greater potential to deliver energy savings in renovation projects than do traditional project delivery methods, like Design-bid-Build. This is because they facilitate collaboration between the various actors and boost their commitment to the achievement of project goals. In order to evaluate the estimated potential of such contracts to achieve energy savings, two renovation projects (carried out by two French social housing organisations) were analysed from their inception until the end of construction work. The analysis is based on written tender documents, technical evaluation reports, observations of the negotiation phase (in one of the cases) and interviews with the main actors involved. Findings show that Design-Build-Maintain contracts do indeed offer substantial energy savings. Both projects achieved higher energy targets than those initially required. Furthermore, the energy results are guaranteed by the contractor, through a system of bonuses and penalties. Other results demonstrate that, compared to previous Design-bid-Build renovation projects, these projects were completed in less time (from project inception to completion of the work) and at virtually the same cost. There has also been a substantial improvement in cooperation between the actors involved.