Municipal Water/Wastewater Project Delivery Performance Comparison

Owners of water/wastewater facilities can choose from several project delivery methods, including the traditional design-bid-build method or an alternative design-build method. When choosing a project delivery method, the owner should consider both the project goals as well as the performance of different project delivery methods. Detailed data on project delivery performance allow owners to match project goals, such as time savings, with project delivery methods. Detailed data on project delivery performance do not currently exist for the water/wastewater sector. Through a survey of water/wastewater facility owners, data were collected on 31 design-build projects and sixty-nine design-bid-build projects. A statistical analysis of the data determined that schedule growth for design-build projects was half that of design-bid-build projects; more design-build projects finished at or below budget; and both project delivery methods produced projects of comparable quality. Although this is the first study of its type in the water/wastewater sector, these results are consistent with similar studies conducted in the building and transportation sectors.