Civil Engineering ETDs

Ruoyu Jin

Publication Date

6-25-2010

Abstract

The design-build (DB) project delivery system (PDS) has been widely applied and studied in the construction industry. Its advantages include shortened project duration, lowered risk to the owner, improved project performance, and possibly reduced cost. Researchers have also studied the factors related to the improved performance in DB projects, especially in the building and transportation industries. Compared to the building and highway industries, the application of DB in water/wastewater (WW) projects has been rarely studied before. One of the potential factors that may influence project performance is procurement duration (PD). By focusing on DB applied to WW projects, this study explored the relationship between PD (from Request for Proposal issue date to proposal due date) and project success. The project success criteria was defined as cost and schedule growth, which were objective measurements and thus provided more convincing data analysis. Project data was collected through an on-line questionnaire given to owners and design-builders who had experience in DB WW projects. The data was used to analyze how PD impacts project performance in terms of cost and schedule growth. The relationships between PD and performance in DB WW projects were compared to DB transportation projects. Both similarities and differences were found. To explore the reasons of these similarities and differences, content analysis was conducted to compare the DB WW and transportation procurement documents. Variables were defined and analyzed based on their frequency of use within procurement documents. Hypotheses were given based on the similarities and differences found between DB WW and transportation projects procurement items as to which might influence the project success. Related suggestions were provided for owners in the DB WW industry regarding the time given for design-builders to prepare proposals and items that should be required in the DB proposal.'

Keywords

Industrial procurement--Management, Project management--Evaluation, Water-supply engineering--Management, Sanitary engineering--Management

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Civil Engineering

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Civil Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Migliaccio, Giovanni

Second Committee Member

Schuler, Andrew

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