Perhaps you've built several fire stations during your career, or maybe you're just setting out on your first firehouse design project. In both instances, and everywhere in between, the "basics" of procuring services and construction still apply, not to mention the new "basics" that weren't around the last time you went through the process.
By the time you're ready to hire an architect to design your new station, you most likely will have already spent a few years or more establishing your funding. In some cases, this happens as much as five to 10 years before you can start with the design. Fast forward a few years, hopefully not too many, and it's time to get an architect signed on to design your station.
It's exciting—finally your vision will start to take shape! Procurement issues an RFP, architects submit their qualifications, your committee selects a few to give a presentation in person, and the one that seems to be the best fit is the one you negotiate a contract with. Let's go through this process a little more carefully, and understand what all the terms mean, and where the variations can happen.
RFQ—Request for Qualifications: A notice is published asking design firms to provide their qualifications to execute your project. The information they need to provide is listed in the RFQ and at a minimum should include a profile of the company, the people they propose to work on your project, and examples of similar projects they have completed in the past few years. You can limit the number of pages to enable your review process to be more efficient, and to reduce the extraneous information.
RFP—Request for Proposals: Similar to an RFQ, an RFP also includes a section requesting the firm provide a fee proposal to execute the work. Often termed "non-binding," the fee proposal will be based on the scope of work presented in the RFP. The more detailed the information you provide on the scope, the more competitive fee proposals you can expect to receive. Unusual soil conditions, sample contracts, and insurance requirements can all impact the design fee. Be clear about how the fee provided will influence (or not influence) a selection of a design team. An RFP for design services can also state that only shortlisted firms need to provide a fee, which is typically given to the procurement officer in a sealed envelope at the time of the interview.
What type of service is the RFP looking for, and what is the "delivery method"—how will the construction be procured? This is perhaps where things have evolved the most in the design and construction industry.
DBB—Design-Bid-Build: Also known as the "traditional approach," and as implied by the name, DBB is sequential in nature. Once the design team has completed the documents and a building permit is in hand, the project is bid. Contractors review the construction documents and assemble their subcontractors to determine the amount they will charge you to build your station. Typically the contractor with the lowest price (bid) is awarded the project. The successful general contractor will be retained under a separate contract, to the owner. As the lowest bidder doesn't always equate to the highest quality, one option is to narrow the field by pre-qualifying construction firms. A separate process that begins about halfway through the design of the project, pre-qualifying allows you to review RFQs submitted by general contractors and establish a group of companies, any of whom should provide you with a quality station.
What are the advantages? Design-Bid-Build is well established and has clearly defined roles for each party involved, and is most commonly used for local, state and federal procurement. The owner has significant control over the final building as most, if not all, decisions are made before a contractor is engaged. Some disadvantages include a longer overall delivery time for the building, since the contractor is not engaged until after the documents are complete, as well as uncertainty about the cost of the project until the bids are received. The owner can be presented with change orders for constructability issues and substitutions, and relationships between the owner, contractor and design team can become adversarial.
CM (Construction Management) at Risk: This delivery method engages a construction manager under contract to you, the owner, at the beginning of the development and design for the project. The design team holds a separate contract with the owner, and the CM can participate as an advisor in the selection of the design team. Throughout the course of the design of the building the CM will monitor the project cost, offer recommendations for materials and constructability, and ultimately take on the actual construction of the project and engage subcontractors to execute the work through a bidding process. The owner is often shown the bids and can have an active role in selecting the subcontractors.
A benefit of CM at Risk is knowing how much your building will cost well before you start construction; a guaranteed maximum price, or GMP, is provided when the project is anywhere from 50-90 percent complete. It is also possible to begin construction prior to the design documents being complete—site work, foundation systems, and structural steel are typically released early to shorten the overall project schedule. While the CM acts as the owner's advisor during design, once construction begins they are at risk to meet the budget and schedule; disputes can arise depending on assumptions made during design and well-established relationships can turn adversarial.
Design-Build: The Design-Build process brings an architect and a contractor together on a single team, with a single contract. Becoming more common, Design-Build is seen by some to be a solution to the disadvantages of Design-Bid-Build and CM at Risk. The team of designer and builder work together from the beginning of the project, establish a fixed price early in the process, and coordinate between design and construction. One of the disadvantages of Design-Build is the potential for you as the owner to have less involvement or control over the final product. To reduce this risk, consider providing the Design Build team with “Bridging Documents.” Issuing an RFP for bridging documents allows you to work with a design firm on programming and concept design and, if desired, establish a budget that aligns with your design. The architect and engineers will develop drawings to a specified level, at which point the documents are packaged into another RFP for a design builder.
This process should provide much closer 'bids' for the project, as you've already established size and aesthetics with the bridging documents. Be aware, procurement laws typically do not allow the architect that develops the initial design to compete for the Design-Build contract. The design builder you select may also propose changes to the design, and the process can become lengthier.
Public Private Partnership: A private entity or developer offers to build your station, at no or little cost to you, in exchange for revenue or other items desirable to the developer. Sometimes a low lease amount is associated with the building for a set period of time, after which it is returned to the public entity. Typically fire stations are delivered this way as part of a much larger development. For example, a municipality may agree to modifications to the zoning ordinance to allow a developer to build more, provided they build a fire station and turn it over to the municipality when it is complete. This is a great way to get a new station, provided you are comfortable with the risks associated with the process such as minimal control or involvement in the design, and financial volatility that may stall or cancel a project before the station is complete.
Regardless of the project delivery method selected, it is imperative that the teams involved in your project have extensive experience in fire and rescue design and construction. There are many roles you will play as an owner during the life of your project, be sure to simplify things by eliminating the role of teacher.
LYNN REDA is a principal with Hughes Group Architects in Sterling, VA. She has been an architect for over 20 years, and has designed more than 30 public safety facilities in the last 15 years.
