MOTION FOR THE BOARD MEETING OF DECEMBER 16, 2010
Title
MOTION, with respect to Agenda Item #59, File ID #10-1597, to adopt Legislative Initiative #2
Body
I move to amend the District's Act to allow for the use of a design-build approach to construction projects.
Historically, and as a general rule, all sectors of government across the nation have accomplished construction work using a system called "design-bid-build." Under the design-bid-build system, the public agency first awards an architect/engineer a contract to design a project based on specified criteria of qualifications and experience of the architect/engineer. This contract generally accounts for a relatively small portion of the project's total costs. After detailed project plans and drawings are completed, a contractor is selected to perform the construction work which accounts for the majority of the project's costs. In almost all cases, contracts for the construction portion of the project are awarded objectively based on competitive bidding.
In recent years, an alternative approach to public construction has emerged called design-build. With design-build, the public agency contracts with a general contractor to both design and build the project. The agency does not separately contract with an architect/engineer for design. That is the responsibility of the general contractor. The general contractor in turn subcontracts, through competitive bidding or otherwise, for an architect/engineer and various construction trade work.
A number of states and some units of government in Illinois have introduced legislation allowing them to utilize this alternative approach. The Engineering and M&O Departments have indicated that in certain applications the design-build approach might be useful to expedite certain projects and reduce administrative costs.
Date: December 16, 2010
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Commissioner