Product & Service Procurement – You Have Options!

Traditionally, when public facilities (i.e. school districts) wanted to undertake capital improvement projects in excess of $25,000, the project was required to go “out to bid”.  This laborious process typically involved securing architectural services, designing the project, advertising, receiving bids and awarding contracts before any product procurement could take place.  This has made procurement of products and services cumbersome, time consuming and more costly.

In 2011, Governor Kasich signed House Bill 153 which included changes to the state’s method of performing construction, now known as Ohio Construction Reform (OCR). These changes alter how public improvement projects may be completed and allow for the traditional method as well as alternative delivery methods including: Single Prime Contracting, Construction Manager at Risk, and Design Build.

The Design Build delivery method is defined as, “a method of project deliver in which one entity – the design-build team – works under a single contract with the project owner to provide design and construction services.”  With the opportunity to choose Design Build for your project delivery method, public facilities are now able to advertise a “Request for Proposal” (RFP). Your request would include a general scope and intent of the project as well as evaluation criteria.  A prospective Design Build firm would then reply with their interpretation of the project including design, scope, scheduling, and budgeting as well as their qualifications and references.  Design Build projects work best when there is a relatively narrow project scope (i.e. replacement of auditorium seating or new grandstands).

The benefit of using Design Build for product procurement are numerous and include:

1. Substantially shorter project durations – Simply advertise the RFP, make the Best Value Selection and the project is underway!
2. Substantially lower the overall project cost.
3. No need to hire an architect up front because you’re soliciting for both design and construction services. This lessens the upfront work load and gives you more options from which to choose the final design.
4. No longer have to make your decision based solely on low-bid pricing. The Design Build option and OCR allow you to choose based on Best Value Selection criteria which is defined as, “a process used in competitive negotiated contracting to select the most advantageous offer by evaluating and comparing factors of both price and qualifications.”  You set the criteria which are most important for the project (i.e. quality, duration, cost, features, etc.)

What this also means is that you are no longer tied to the traditional conceive-design-bid-construct project delivery model.  You now have the option to let the proposals come to you and to make the Best Value Selection based on your most important criteria.

If you have questions on how the OCR or the RFP process can assist with product procurement, please feel free to contact us or to visit ofcc.ohio.gov