State Transportation Agencies' Current Practices in Providing Design Information for Design-Build Projects during Procurement

Owners that solicit proposals for lump-sum design-build transportation projects must provide a minimum level of design and other pertinent information to prospective design-builders in the procurement stages. Existing research on this topic relies heavily on a percent complete designation and demonstrates a lack of industry standards. This research presents owners' current practices related to the recommended level of design, as well as additional information provided in design-build proposal requests. This research examines publicly available information from 22 state transportation agencies (STAs) to identify owner-provided design level at the procurement stage of design-build projects. Additionally, 17 STAs are further analyzed for additional related information provided to the design-builder during the procurement phase. The main findings include that 86% of STAs recommended owners provide prospective design-builders with 30% or below design levels at the procurement stage; and 88% of STAs provided environmental studies, geotechnical studies, right-of-way information, and existing utilities information as a part of request for proposals. The study findings will assist STAs in quantifying the level of design, as well as other information recommended for inclusion in proposal requests, so that design-builders can complete projects successfully. (C) 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.