2.4.2 ALTERNATIVE METHODS

A few countries have developed alternative forms of tender evaluation that are not specifically mentioned in this report and these alternative methods are shown in Table 10. These practices are not widely used in many countries and are mainly practiced in the USA. Some of the main reasons for using the following practices are to complete projects faster, address traffic congestion problems during construction, seek better quality, and reward better performance. These have been used for DBB projects in the USA, when approved to use alternative methods. These include A+B bidding, incentives & disincentives, lane rental, and warranty contracts. Warranty contracts are simply having some form of warranty of a part of the project that will be warranted for a given duration. However, these have been more of an exception than a normal practice. The details of these methods are depicted in the Table 10 and are summarized as follows.

A+B+Quality (Optional) Bidding

Lane Rental

Warranty Contracts

Incentives & Disincentives

Upset Price (used by BC Canada - state maximum price & what quality levels are promised)

Description

Potential Benefits

Cost Plus Time Bidding A + B + Quality (Optional) (USA)

• "A" portion is the total cost for completion of project

• "B" portion is the total number of days to complete the project

• B is multiplied via the given estimated cost per day

• The "B" cost minus the A portion, determines the value and awarded to the lowest price

• Optional Use of Incentives & Disincentives

• Optional Use of Warranty

• Minimize delivery time

• Reduce road user impacts on highly congested roads

• Usually has cost savings

• Better quality when warranty included in agreement

Lane Rental (USA)

• A fee is assessed for occupying lanes or shoulders.

• Rates are specified in the contract

• Deducted from monthly payments when contractor occupies or obstructs lanes

• Some alternates are to include the lane rental as part of the bid and determine the low bid via the A+B method.

• In areas of high traffic volume, it motivates
contractors to minimize road user impacts or delays during construction.

• Results have seen reduced cost to the client

Incentives & Disincentives (USA)

• Provision to reward or penalize for completion milestones

• Compensation is based upon a fixed amount per day for completing ahead of schedule

• Penalty is incurred for each day that the project is delayed

• Complete projects on time or ahead of schedule

• Traffic delays & congestion are minimized

Table 10 Other Alternative Contractor Selection Methods