Attracting the best talent industry has to Offer:
Down-selecting to three Phase II offerors strikes the right balance between meaningful competition and genuine industry engagement. By narrowing the field to a manageable number of highly qualified teams, owners create a competitive environment where each proposer has a real opportunity to succeed, driving innovation, thoughtful solutions, and best-value pricing.
This approach also signals respect for industry’s time and investment. Shortlisted teams are more willing to commit senior talent, explore creative design and delivery strategies, and engage openly with the owner when the odds of award are credible. The result is higher-quality proposals, deeper collaboration, and a more informed procurement process.
Ultimately, limiting Phase II to three offerors attracts the strongest industry partners, sustains healthy competition, and positions the project for successful execution by teams that are fully engaged, aligned, and invested in delivering the owner’s objectives.
Demonstrate willingness to partner:
Issuing a draft RFP in Phase II is a critical step in creating a collaborative, well-informed procurement that benefits both the owner and industry. By sharing requirements early and inviting feedback, owners gain real-world insight into constructability, risk allocation, schedule feasibility, and market capacity, allowing them to refine the solicitation and make sound, data-driven decisions before proposals are finalized.
This early engagement demonstrates transparency and a genuine willingness to partner. Industry teams are more likely to respond with creativity and candor when they see their input reflected in the final RFP, leading to clearer expectations, stronger proposals, and fewer surprises after award.
Most importantly, a draft RFP positions the owner as an “owner of choice.” It signals respect for industry expertise, builds trust, and attracts the best teams, those willing to invest time, talent, and innovation to deliver successful project outcomes.
Advance your mission through collaboration and candid feedback:
Conducting proprietary meetings is a powerful tool for driving alignment, innovation, and value in a design-build procurement. These one-on-one engagements create a confidential forum where industry teams can openly discuss their concepts, assumptions, and risks, while owners gain a clearer understanding of each team’s approach and capabilities.
When owners provide candid, constructive feedback during these meetings, they actively help industry teams advance their concepts in ways that better align with mission needs, performance goals, and delivery constraints. This clarity allows proposers to focus their efforts where they matter most, maximizing scope, optimizing budgets, and proposing solutions that are ambitious but achievable.
Proprietary meetings also reinforce the owner’s role as a true partner in the process. By investing time in meaningful dialogue and guidance, owners encourage higher-quality proposals, stronger engagement, and outcomes that reflect shared objectives. Setting the stage for successful execution after award.
Recognize industry effort in Phase II:
Paying stipends to the two unsuccessful Phase II offerors is a meaningful way to acknowledge the significant time, expertise, and resources required to advance a design concept in a design-build procurement. Providing stipends, typically on the order of one-tenth of one percent of the project value and helps offset proposal development costs and signals that the owner values the effort and creativity invested by industry teams.
This practice encourages strong participation from top-tier firms that might otherwise be hesitant to commit senior talent and design resources without a reasonable chance of cost recovery. By reducing financial risk for proposers, owners promote healthier competition, more innovative solutions, and higher-quality proposals.
Just as importantly, stipends reinforce the owner’s reputation as fair, professional, and respectful of industry. Demonstrating appreciation for unsuccessful offerors builds goodwill in the market, strengthens long-term relationships, and positions the owner as an “owner of choice” for future design-build projects.
DESIGN-BUILD CHECKLIST
Delivery expectation management from the start:
Developing clear requirements is foundational to successful design-build delivery, and a well-defined design-build checklist is a critical tool in achieving that clarity. By clearly identifying mission needs, performance criteria, required features, and expectations for sustainability and durability, owners provide industry with a shared understanding of what success looks like from the outset.
A comprehensive checklist helps teams focus their design and construction efforts on the elements that matter most, reducing ambiguity, minimizing rework, and limiting the risk of missed or misinterpreted requirements. It also supports consistent proposal evaluation, enabling owners to compare solutions more effectively and make informed, best-value decisions.
Ultimately, clear requirements and disciplined checklist management align design intent with delivery outcomes. This approach improves quality, controls risk, and ensures that critical mission, sustainability, and long-term performance objectives are fully realized throughout the life of the project.
AWARD FEE PLAN
Incentivize behavior required for successful delivery:
Developing and properly managing award fee incentive plans is a powerful way to reinforce collaboration and maintain owner engagement throughout design-build delivery. When structured around clear performance goals and behaviors, award fees align the interests of the owner and design-build team, encouraging teamwork, transparency, and problem-solving beyond minimum contract requirements.
Well-crafted incentive plans reward collaborative behavior during critical phases, final design development, risk management, and early construction, when key decisions have the greatest impact on cost, schedule, and quality. By tying incentives to outcomes such as responsiveness, innovation, coordination, and adherence to mission priorities, owners create a shared focus on project success.
Equally important, award fee plans help ensure the owner retains a meaningful seat at the table. Ongoing evaluation and dialogue associated with award fees create structured opportunities for engagement, allowing owners to influence decisions as the design is finalized and construction begins, ultimately driving better alignment, stronger partnerships, and superior project outcomes.