Success Factors for Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) in Public Infrastructure Projects

Wondimu, Paulos Abebe; Hailemichael, Eyuell; Hosseini, Ali; Lohne, Jardar; Torp, Olav; Lædre, Ola

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2016.09.146

Cited by 37 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Early contractor involvement (ECI) gives the contractor an opportunity to influence project planning and assist in the creation of buildable solutions (Song et al 2009). Wondimu et al (2016) describes several success factors of ECI that, among others, includes involving contractors early enough and managing risk transfer to the contractors.…”

Section: Theoretical Background Lean and Bvpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Best Value Procurement From a Contractor Point of View

Lesjø¹,

Wondimu²,

Lædre³

2019

Proc. 27th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC)

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Best Value Procurement (BVP) was introduced in Norway in 2016. Since then, more than ten pilot projects have tested the method. So far, limited research has been carried out to explore the contractors' experiences on BVP to improve the method for future projects. The purpose of this paper is to fill part of this research gap by exploring a contractor's experiences from several projects using the method. By looking at five road projects that have tested out the BVP method, a trend can be seen in how the evaluation of the offers was conducted. Data was collected from five pilot road projects through three in-depth interviews with key persons and a document study. The results show how the evaluation of the price aspect has changed over time. In three of the five projects, a formula was used that urged the contractors to set prices low in order to score additional points. This formula gained criticism from both the contractors and the BVP experts hired to help the contractors. BVP has contributed, to a certain extent, to Lean implementation. However, the practice should be improved to increase value and transparency and minimize conflict and waste.

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Section: Theoretical Background Lean and Bvpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Best Value Procurement From a Contractor Point of View

Lesjø¹,

Wondimu²,

Lædre³

2019

Proc. 27th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC)

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“…After the dialogue phase, the client should assess the received tenders by the award criteria specified in the contract notice and select the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) (Hoezen et al, 2015). MEAT (price-inclusive multi-criteria selection) is the weighted sum of various aspects of a product or service that provides value to the project (Wondimu et al, 2016). It makes sure that other selection criteria are considered in addition to price, notably by taking into consideration qualitative environmental and social aspects (Uttam and Le Lann Roos, 2014).…”

Section: Competitive Dialogue (Cd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Competitive Dialogue in Norwegian Public Infrastructure Projects

Wondimu

Lohne

Lædre

2018

J. Constr. Eng. Manage.

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Competitive dialogue (CD) is a relatively new procurement procedure introduced in 2004 by the European Parliament for particularly complex contracts. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) has limited experience with the procedure, but they are planning to use it in several future projects. Limited research was found concerning the practical issues of CD. This paper explores the experiences of Norwegian practitioners to identify such issues and suggests measures for the success of future projects using the procedure. In addition to a literature study, a document study and twenty-two semi-structured in-depth interviews with key informants from six cases selected from the Norwegian public infrastructure projects were carried out. Both the client and the suppliers value the potential of CD. However, several challenges were identified, such as lack of practical experience with CD, ethical challenges, determining the MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) criteria, evaluation based on the MEAT criteria, and varying market interest. This paper contributes to construction engineering and management practice to increase the understanding of CD by suggesting what kinds of measures ought to be taken for the success of future projects using the procedure. Keywords-Competitive dialogue; procurement procedure; public projects; innovation; early contractor involvement. Competitive dialogue (CD) is a relatively new procurement procedure introduced in 2004 by the European Parliament for particularly complex contracts (European Commission, 2006). It a procedure that can be used to engage suppliers in the early phase of a project to support innovation (Edler and Georghiou, 2007; Korthals Altes and Taşan-Kok, 2010). In Finland, for instance, public traffic infrastructure owners have developed an alliancing project delivery method based on CD in order to implement ECI (Lahdenperä, 2009). In the Netherlands, CD and BVP have been used as approaches to implement ECI in the public sector (Van Leeuwen, 2011; Lenferink et al., 2012). Van Leeuwen (2011) explains how it is possible to combine CD with BVP to establish a procurement procedure that prioritizes qualification over price. In sum, CD has been found to enable the market to suggest innovative solutions (Kautsch et al., 2015) through the early involvement of suppliers, and to establishing an innovative public client-supplier relationship (Essig and Batran, 2005). The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) is currently planning a mega project, the E39 Coastal Highway Route along the west coast of Norway. The project cost is estimated to be approximately 40 billion U.S. dollars. One of the main ambitions of the project is to make the E39 ferry free by replacing the eight ferry services crossing the major fjords with bridges and submerged tunnels. The fjords are up to 1,300 meters deep and 7,500 meters wide. As a consequence of the technical challenges involved, the NPRA needs to bring suppliers' knowledge and experience into the project to boost innovation. The NP...

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“…This leads to silo thinking and a lack of goal alignment between the project owner and the contractors. Several studies indicate that earlier contractor involvement can increase the project value and reduce the conflict level between the project owner and the contractor [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, the original BVP method must be implemented in a modified form for public project owners in the EU [8]. In addition, there are some practical barriers to implementing such methods of early contractor involvement, such as traditional culture and contracting practice [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Best Value Procurement – The first experiences from Norway

Högnason¹,

Wondimu²,

Lædrea³

2018

Creative Construction Conference 2018 - Proceedings

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Best Value Procurement (BVP) is a method for contractor selection and project management, which seeks to increase project value by emphasizing the competence and expertise of the contractor. Several studies in the US and Netherlands indicate promising results. The method is new to Norway and pilot projects in the construction industry are testing the method. Limited research has been done to explore the experiences of these pilot projects. This study investigates how BVP was implemented in practice and the experiences with the method to develop suggestions for future projects on how BVP should be performed. The research was carried out through a literature study and two Norwegian case studies. A building project and a medium-size infrastructure project in the Norwegian public sector were explored through nine semi-structured, in-depth interviews and document studies. The findings show that the practical use of BVP aligns with the theoretical approach. However, since the method is new in Norway there are some challenges, such as the contractors' lack of knowledge of and experience with the BVP method. This may reduce the potential project value. The conclusion is that BVP is an effective and promising method for contractor selection and project management. However, for the success of future projects using the method, project owners may benefit from providing contractors with more knowledge of and experience with BVP. This can be done by training and by being persistent in using BVP in future projects.

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Success Factors for Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) in Public Infrastructure Projects

Cited by 37 publications

References 15 publications

Best Value Procurement From a Contractor Point of View

Best Value Procurement From a Contractor Point of View

Competitive Dialogue in Norwegian Public Infrastructure Projects

Best Value Procurement – The first experiences from Norway

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