Design-Build - An entirely new way of doing business with DDC

Improved project delivery for public works

LINK TO CURRENT NYC DDC - Design Build Projects

Design-Build will allow DDC to complete public projects faster and more efficiently. Design-Build emphasizes collaboration, efficiency, and risk reduction, which means we can open libraries, fire stations, and maintenance facilities sooner. We also expect that it will accelerate road, water, and sewer projects. This improved approach will benefit our partners in the design and construction process, our City, our sponsor agencies, and the New Yorkers who rely on our projects.

The vendor selection process will prioritize design, qualifications, and experience–along with the proposed cost–to emphasize best value. Our objective is high-quality design delivered by an experienced team that will collaborate at all stages of the design and construction process. DDC seeks proposers that are dedicated, responsive, and collaborative, exemplifying the principles that guide the agency’s Project Excellence program. With clear project performance requirements established early in the process, our design-build teams can deliver public assets that are inspiring, enduring, practical, constructible, and cost-sensitive.

 Design-Build relies on collaboration and coordination

The program is very different than the City’s traditional method of awarding separate design and construction contracts. A single entity, which may include one or more firms, will be responsible to the City for both design and construction. Because the designer and builder are on the same team and work together from the beginning, there is emphasis on collaboration, quality, and commitment to project excellence. This improved coordination can ensure development of more reliable project costs and durations. With a clearly defined project scope, schedule, and contract value at an early point in project delivery, construction risk is reduced for both the City and the design-builder

A two-step procurement process eases access to opportunities

A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is the first part of the vendor selection process. The intent of the RFQ is to create a short list of the most highly qualified proposers. In response to the RFQ, proposers provide a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) to demonstrate the team’s ability to undertake the complete design and construction work for each project. DDC will rank SOQs that it receives to identify a short list of the most highly qualified proposers based on general capability, capacity, qualifications, experience and past performance. Only short-listed firms will be eligible to participate in the second phase of the procurement, the Request for Proposals (RFP) phase. At the RFP phase, DDC will release scoping documents, including detailed information on project requirements, and the draft Design-Build agreement. Once the short list is published, other firms that had not been involved in the RFQ process will have an opportunity to partner with the design-build teams on the list.

There is no role requirement for the leadership of the design-build team (for example, teams may be designer-led). It is desirable that the team has collective experience in Design-Build and related project delivery methods and other alternative project delivery methods. If key members of the team do not have this experience, the proposer may indicate familiarity with the objectives of this alternative delivery approach and demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationship between design and construction under the Design-Build project delivery approach.

 Continued commitment to minority and women-owned firms

DDC intends to use in its Design-Build program qualified firms that have a demonstrated history of hiring, training, developing, promoting, and retaining minority and women staff and to encourage participation by City- and State-certified Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) firms. Each project will be subject to carefully developed M/WBE participation goals for both design/consulting and construction activities. DDC has a dedicated office to support M/WBE’s with one-on-one assistance, access to resources and workshops, information about funding and bonding, mentorship programs, and much more.