Virginia’s Public Procurement of Design-Build and Construction Management Services

Both the Commonwealth of Virginia and its local governments have embarked upon a process of using Design-Build and Construction Management services as an alternative to procuring capital projects through competitive sealed bidding. In pursuit of alternative project delivery methods all states, including Virginia, must comply with public procurement acts aimed at obtaining high quality goods and services at reasonable cost. This has typically resulted in public procurement through competitive sealed bidding.

Virginia’s state legislature has experimented at achieving the best from creative project delivery options through “fixed price, not to exceed price design-build and construction management contracts.” This paper illustrates Virginia’s legislative strategy; its determination and evaluation process; and explores issues faced by securers and providers when choosing and defending project delivery using Design-Build and Construction Management services. Readers are provided an opportunity to discover how Virginia is approaching its goal of achieving cost and timesavings in procuring capital projects by using Design-Build and Construction Management as project delivery options.