A methodology for selecting the construction team

Achieving partnering in the public sector is difficult since most projects are one-offs and hence there can be no long term commitment, the option of providing incentives such as pain-gain sharing to contractors and consultants is not possible and contracts need to be awarded by competitive tendering. In a study of a project at Hurst Spit in Hampshire a partnering way of working was achieved with no partnering agreements, no long term commitments and no incentives. It is proposed that a partnering way of working can be achieved using competitive tendering if a pre-qualification methodology can be developed which will eliminate parties that have not embraced a culture of co-operation. This thesis describes a methodology that eliminates those companies that attempt to succeed in the pre-qualification stage by second guessing what the client wishes to hear and hence disguising the fact that the culture for co-operative working is not present and prefer to use litigation rather than co-operation. The solution to the problem required a methodology that is specific to project and client, and able to identify and eliminate companies having a culture inappropriate to co-operative working. Initial trials of the methodology were undertaken with Gosport Borough Council to select consultants and contractors for the construction of a £2m bridge as part of the Millennium scheme for the regeneration of Portsmouth Harbour. The approach was to allow the client to identify all the success criteria that were important to the project. The client was then required to prioritise these criteria using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Consultants and contractors were then asked to prioritise these same criteria and explain how they would deliver the project on these criteria. In addition, the consultants and contractors were required to work together to value engineer the design prior to any construction works. This research focuses on the development of a consultants and contractors selection process which will enable co-operative working between all participants and permit early contractor involvement. The results of the trials were highly successful and the methodology described in this thesis is now being widely adopted.