The updated Design-Build Institute of America Water and Wastewater Best Practices document expands on the group’s Universal Best Practices and offers tailored support to construction professionals to enhance project efficiency and success. By addressing the sector’s unique challenges, authors note, the targeted Best Practices aim to ensure high-quality design-build projects that prioritize public health and safety. Among document highlights and takeaways:
Navigating Local Governance: The sector’s local implementation, often managed by cities, counties or quasi-governmental utilities, requires intricate procurement processes influenced by state statutes, local ordinances and utility board regulations. The Best Practices document provides guidance to navigate these challenges effectively.
Addressing Technical and Logistical Challenges: Water and wastewater projects are inherently demanding due to their impact on public health and safety, the need for public stakeholder engagement and stringent regulatory approvals. The primer outlines strategies for addressing these demands, including integrating operations and maintenance staff early to enhance collaboration and project success.
Choosing the Right Delivery Models: The document emphasizes selecting the appropriate organizational structure and project delivery model, such as Progressive Design-Build, Design-Build-Operate and Design-Build-Operate-Maintain. These models offer flexibility and expanded scope, including financing and maintenance services.
Upholding Ethical and Professional Standards: The Best Practices are anchored by ethical conduct, demonstrated competence and sustainable professional development. These principles ensure projects are executed with integrity and excellence.
Comprehensive Sector-Specific Guidance: Organized into three primary sections—Procuring Design-Build Services, Contracting for Design-Build Services and Executing Design-Build Projects—the primer provides detailed best practices and implementation techniques tailored to the water/wastewater sector.
One section, “Design-Build Oriented Procurement Plan,” states the case for performance versus prescriptive requirements. “Owners should develop their design-build procurement with the goal of minimizing the use of prescriptive requirements and maximizing the use of performance-based requirements, such that: 1) Performance requirements are based on recognized industry standards that are current, attainable and appropriate for the project; 2) Performance requirements provide the design-build team adequate guidance and flexibility to optimize the balance between scope, quality, schedule and budget within current market conditions; and, 3) The design-build team is empowered to meet or exceed the Owner’s needs through innovation and creativity.”
A subgroup of DBIA’s Water/Wastewater Markets Committee, led by Co-Chairs David Hill and Drew Zirkle, collaborated with a diverse team of experienced experts and partner organizations to update the best practices. “The ever-increasing demands of water and wastewater as a must-have infrastructure require continuous improvement and innovation of not only what we build but how we deliver what we build,” says Hill. “The DBIA Water/Wastewater Best Practices provide a continuous strong foundation to tackle these demands and deliver the highest certainty of outcome.”
The document is available free of charge at the DBIA Online Bookstore, https://store.dbia.org.