An evaluation of design-build as a procurement method for construction projects in Uganda

Abstract

Design-build has become a popular mode of procuring construction work. It is now regarded by the majority of clients because it offers greater confidence to clients. Even most of the researchers have found that the design-build procurement method is better than the traditional method in most of the areas; in general, it is not developing as dominant or highly practicing procurement method in most of the countries except France, Greece, and Mexico in private sector. In Uganda design-build has not extended as it is expected. Therefore, it is worthwhile to find out the reasons behind the drawbacks of design-build procurement system development. Thus, this research is intended to identify the most significant impediments to the development of design-build procurement method in Uganda. A questionnaire survey was used determine the position of Design-build and identify the significant impediments to the development of design-build procurement system in Uganda and unstructured interviews with most experienced professionals were carried out in order to study and understand the context. The research concluded that although the professionals were open to the procurement system especially the contractors with some designers disagreeing with the procurement method the procurement is not that used in the country due to lack of information and some respondents (designers) stating that the industry in Uganda was not ready for this type of procurement. Projects managers normally seek to lower the extent of risk by signing contracts, such as Design-Bid-Build project delivery systems to transfer or share risk over to other project entities. The standard practice in today's construction is the Traditional Construction (design-bid-build), this project delivery system consists of a designer who prepares a design for an owner. The owner then selects a builder, usually through a bidding process, to transform the two-dimensional design into the final structure. This research takes an in-depth look at the Design-build process from the designers and contractors perspectives in Uganda.