BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR THE OUT-SOURCING OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING SERVICES ON FDOT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

This report provides information obtained from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and other Transportation Agencies concerning their management approach and costs associated with agency management of construction projects. The FDOT uses the term "Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI)" for this activity. The information contained in this report focuses on three primary study areas: (1) Establishing baseline cost ranges for industry; (2) Analysis of FDOT cost trends; and (3) Identifying various management approaches and suggesting strategies for improvement. Project cost information obtained from the FDOT indicates that their CEI cost when performing management with their own forces averages 9.22% of the construction contract cost. The FDOT's cost when using outside consultants averages 14.67% of construction contract cost. This cost included 11.57% for consultant contract cost and 3.10% for the FDOT's administrative cost. A more detailed categorical analysis of FDOT costs is contained in the report. The majority of State Highway Agencies reported using outside consultants to augment their CEI activities. The average cost report for performing CEI with in-house forces was 8.60% of construction contract cost. The average cost reported for performing CEI with outside consultants was 11.07% of construction contract cost. It should be noted that there was considerable variation in reported CEI cost from agency to agency. An analysis of FDOT CEI cost data was performed including 1402 projects from the period of 1994 to 1999. Cost trends are presented for both FDOT cost and consultant cost. Suggestions are presented for allocating CEI responsibility based on cost effectiveness. Transportation Agencies were surveyed with regard to their consultant procurement and contract compensation methods. These consultant management procedures are detailed in this report. Additionally, best practice management strategies were developed from analysis of the information received from the FDOT and other State Highway Agencies. Suggestions for further research and an implementation plan are included.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Florida, Gainesville

  Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering
  Gainesville, FL  United States  32611-6580

  Florida Department of Transportation

  Haydon Burns Building, 605 Suwanee Street
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32301
• Authors:
  • Ellis, R
  • Guertin, B D
  • Shannon, Jay
• Publication Date: 2000-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 50 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Construction engineering; Construction management; Consultants; Contracting out; Cost effectiveness; Costs; Future; Procurement; Research; State departments of transportation; State highway departments; Strategic planning; Trend (Statistics)
• Geographic Terms: Florida
• Subject Areas: Construction; Finance; Highways; Research; I50: Construction and Supervision of Construction;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00806886
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Report
• Contract Numbers: BC-228
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Mar 9 2001 12:00AM