Strategies to manage the implementation challenges of public sector design & build contracts in Sri Lanka

Abstract

“Design and build” is a procurement strategy in which the main contractor is appointed based on the Employer’s requirements and as per the principle design by Employer’s principle advisor. Contractor needs to perform both design and construction of a particular Construction project. Design & Build procurement method has several advantages, but the standard of service experienced by Employers during the implementation stage of D&B projects has been found to be less than satisfactory. This “Applied research study” investigates the challenges faced by the public sector construction industry in Sri Lanka. when implementing D&B projects; and it also investigate as to how mitigation measures help to face successfully for these challenges. The preliminary survey conducted to find out various ongoing/recently completed government sector D&B projects and contact details of professionals engaged with those projects to take part as questionnaire respondents. Types of current D&B practices related information also gathered through preliminary survey. Factors affecting for the selection decision of procurement method and various D&B challenges were identified through literature review. Accordingly, the questionnaire survey was developed using the information gathered through preliminary survey and literature review. Through the study it was found that the 72.5% of procurement decisions were based on purposeful reasons such as need of single point of responsibility, requirement of specialized knowledge, being cost driven projects, need of variety of innovative designs. When considering the satisfaction level of respondents, research found that 67.5% of the employers have successfully identified the real necessity of incorporating D&B method to their projects out of other procurement methods. However, the rest of the respondents, stated that it would have been much more successful under traditional procurement method. Research found extreme D&B challenges as limited pool of qualified D&B contractors, Project delay, cost overrun, difficulty in tender evaluation and variation valuation. As per expert view those can be mitigated mainly by setting up practical milestones, using change control mechanisms, proper planning, and monitoring, clearly defining the scope etc.