Abstract
This paper presents the results of a study to compare the performance of design-bid-build (DBB), construction manager at risk (CMR), and design-build (DB) project delivery systems in the US building construction industry. By leveraging verified data from 212 projects, a best subset analysis was used to generate regression models that explain the greatest amount of variance in five measures of project performance: unit cost, cost growth, schedule growth, construction speed, and delivery speed. From these regression models, the average of the predicted project performance was calculated for each delivery system when holding all other variables constant. The results show that, on average, projects with a DB delivery system are delivered faster and with lower cost and schedule growth than projects structured as CMR or DBB. In addition, the completed unit cost of DB projects is comparable to DBB and slightly less than CMR projects. These results are generally consistent with findings from seminal articles published in the late 1990s, as well as more recent works that also compared performance across delivery systems. However, the modeling does indicate that, except for delivery speed, the gap in performance between DBB, CMR, and DB has narrowed over time. This research provides an updated benchmark for the performance of the most commonly used project delivery systems, which has value to owners seeking guidance when making strategic decisions in structuring their projects.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions. No project names, project locations, or participant contact information can be provided, and instead, cases have been assigned generic identification numbers to preserve anonymity of study participants. Otherwise, the data used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Charles Pankow Foundation and CII for their support of this research. We also thank our collaborators Dr. John Messner and Dr. Robert Leicht at Pennsylvania State University, and Dr. Behzad Esmaeili at George Mason University. Finally, we wish to thank the members of our industry task force, who provided valuable advice during the research. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the sponsors, collaborators, or task force members.
References
Akintoye, A. 1994. “Design and build: A survey of construction contractors’ views.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 12 (2): 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446199400000021.
Al Khalil, M. I. 2002. “Selecting the appropriate project delivery method using AHP.” Int. J. Project Manage. 20 (6): 469–474.
American Institute of Architects. 2008. The architect’s handbook of professional practice. 14th ed. New York: Wiley.
Anumba, C., and N. Evbuomwan. 1997. “Concurrent engineering in design-build projects.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 15 (3): 271–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/014461997373006.
Baiden, B., and A. Price. 2011. “The effect of integration on project delivery team effectiveness.” Int. J. Project Manage. 29 (2): 129–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2010.01.016.
Chan, A. P. C., D. C. K. Ho, and C. M. Tam. 2001a. “Design and build project success factors: Multivariate analysis.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 127 (2): 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2001)127:2(93).
Chan, A. P. C., D. Scott, and A. P. L. Chan. 2004. “Factors affecting the success of a construction project.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 130 (1): 153–155. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2004)130:1(153).
Chan, A. P. C., E. H. K. Yung, P. T. I. Lam, C. M. Tam, and S. O. Cheung. 2001b. “Application of Delphi method in selection of procurement systems for construction projects.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 19 (7): 699–718. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446190110066128.
Cheung, S.-O., T.-I. Lam, Y.-W. Wan, and K.-C. Lam. 2001. “Improving objectivity in procurement selection.” J. Manage. Eng. 17 (3): 132–139. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(2001)17:3(132).
Draper, N., and H. Smith. 1998. Applied regression analysis. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley.
Duggan, T., and D. Patel. 2014. Design-build project delivery market share and market size report. Norwell, MA: Design-Build Institute of America and RS Means Reed Construction Data Market Intelligence.
El Asmar, M., A. S. Hanna, and W.-Y. Loh. 2013. “Quantifying performance for the integrated project delivery system as compared to established delivery systems.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 139 (11): 04013012. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000744.
Flyvbjerg, B., M. Holm, and S. Buhl. 2002. “Underestimating costs in public works projects: Error or lie?” J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 68 (3): 279–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360208976273.
FMI (Fails Management Institute). 2018. Design-build utilization: Combined market study. Washington, DC: Design-Build Institute of America.
Franz, B., and R. Leicht. 2016. “An alternative classification of project delivery methods in the United States building construction industry.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 34 (3): 160–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2016.1183800.
Franz, B., R. Leicht, K. Molenaar, and J. Messner. 2017. “Impact of team integration and group cohesion on project delivery performance.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 143 (1): 04016088. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001219.
Hale, D. R., P. P. Shrestha, G. E. Gibson Jr., and G. C. Migliaccio. 2009. “Empirical comparison of design/build and design/bid/build project delivery methods.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 135 (7): 579–587. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000017.
Ibbs, C. W., Y. H. Kwak, T. Ng, and A. M. Odabasi. 2003. “Project delivery systems and project change: Quantitative analysis.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 129 (4): 382–387. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2003)129:4(382).
Ibbs, W., and Y. Chih. 2011. “Alternative methods for choosing an appropriate project delivery system (PDS).” Facilities 29 (13–14): 527–541. https://doi.org/10.1108/02632771111178418.
Kenig, M. 2011. Project delivery systems for construction. 3rd ed. Arlington, VA: Associated General Contractors of America.
Konchar, M., and V. Sanvido. 1998. “Comparison of US project delivery systems.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 124 (6): 435–444. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(1998)124:6(435).
Korkmaz, S., D. Riley, and M. Horman. 2010. “Piloting evaluation metrics for sustainable high-performance building project delivery.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 136 (8): 877–885. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000195.
Kumaraswamy, M., and S. Dissanayaka. 2001. “Developing a decision support system for building project procurement.” Build. Environ. 36 (3): 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-1323(00)00011-1.
Love, P. E., D. J. Edwards, Z. Irani, and A. Sharif. 2012. “Participatory action research approach to public sector procurement selection.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 138 (3): 311–322. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000440.
Love, P. E., M. Skitmore, and G. Earl. 1998. “Selecting a suitable procurement method for a building project.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 16 (2): 221–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/014461998372501.
Molenaar, K. R., A. D. Songer, and M. Barash. 1999. “Public-sector design/build evolution and performance.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 15 (2): 54–62. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(1999)15:2(54).
Ng, S. T., and S. O. Cheung. 2007. “Virtual project delivery system adviser.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 133 (4): 275–284. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(2007)133:4(275).
Oyetunji, A. A., and S. D. Anderson. 2006. “Relative effectiveness of project delivery and contract strategies.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 132 (1): 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2006)132:1(3).
Shrestha, P. P., J. T. O’Connor, and G. E. Gibson Jr. 2011. “Performance comparison of large design-build and design-bid-build highway projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 138 (1): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000390.
Sullivan, J., M. El Asmar, J. Chalhoub, and H. Obeid. 2017. “Two decades of performance comparisons for design-build, construction manager at risk, and design-bid-build: Quantitative analysis of the state of knowledge on project cost, schedule and quality.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 143 (6): 04017009. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001282.
Tarricone, P. 1996. “Design-build it, and they will come.” Facility Des. Manage. 15 (9): 60–63.
Thomas, S., C. Macken, T. Chung, and I. Kim. 2002. Measuring the impacts of the delivery system on project performance: Design-build and design-bid-build. Austin, TX: NIST.
Toor, S. U. R., and S. O. Ogunlana. 2008. “Problems causing delays in major construction projects in Thailand.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 26 (4): 395–408.
Toor, S. U. R., and S. O. Ogunlana. 2009. “Construction professionals’ perception of critical success factors for large-scale construction projects.” Constr. Innovation 9 (2): 149–167. https://doi.org/10.1108/14714170910950803.
Touran, A., D. D. Gransberg, K. R. Molenaar, and K. Ghavamifar. 2010. “Selection of project delivery method in transit: Drivers and objectives.” J. Manage. Eng. 27 (1): 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000027.
Tran, D. Q., and K. R. Molenaar. 2015. “Risk-based project delivery selection model for highway design and construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 141 (12): 04015041. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001024.
Walker, D., and K. Hampson, eds. 2008. Procurement strategies: A relationship-based approach. New York: Wiley.
Yates, J. K. 1995. “Use of design/build in E/C industry.” J. Manage. Eng. 11 (6): 33–38. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(1995)11:6(33).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 9 • September 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 18, 2019
Accepted: Apr 16, 2020
Published online: Jun 19, 2020
Published in print: Sep 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Nov 19, 2020
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Business management
- Construction costs
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Design-bid-build
- Engineering fundamentals
- Management methods
- Managers
- Personnel (type)
- Personnel management
- Practice and Profession
- Project delivery
- Project management
- Regression analysis
- Scheduling
- Statistical analysis (by type)
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.