Best Value Procurement (BVP) in Norwegian Construction Projects

The traditional contractor selection method, based on lowest price, has resulted in conflict, low quality products and a waste of resources. The need for an alternative supplier selection method has resulted in Best Value Procurement (BVP). BVP seeks to increase project value by utilizing the expertise of the contractor, while reducing the client’s management, direction and control. Currently, pilot projects in the Norwegian construction industry are testing the method. This paper addresses 1) how BVP is implemented in practice, 2) what the experiences with BVP are, and 3) how BVP should be performed in future projects. 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 investigated through nine semi-structured, in-depth interviews and document studies. The findings show that the practical use of BVP is in accordance with the theoretical approach. Furthermore, the experiences with BVP are mainly positive. However, some challenges have been identified, such as the clients’ and contractors’ lack of knowledge 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, clients and contractors may benefit from more knowledge and experience with BVP. This can be done by training and by being persistent in using BVP in future projects. This paper is a revised version of a paper that has been published in the proceedings of the Creative Construction Conference 2018

Various Approaches to Early Contractor Involvement in Relational Contracts

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Public-Private Partnership: A Bibliometric Analysis and Historical Evolution

The broad and extensive application of public-private partnership (PPP), as well as the divergent documented definitions and experiences, have led to a translucent perspective of PPP and strained academia and industry to reach a consensus on the major practice of this concept. Early contractor involvement (ECI), governance tools, and relational contracting are only a few of the frameworks attributed to PPP. This issue has received limited attention from researchers, despite the focus of review studies on different disciplines of PPP. Hence, this paper puts forward the idea of conducting a comprehensive review to not only shed light on the major practice of PPP but also provide a wider outlook on this concept based on the research carried out since 1979. A narrative review is initially accomplished to identify the major drivers and milestones that have contributed to the evolution of PPP. Employing bibliometric analysis in the following phase assists in conducting a multi-dimensional assessment of studies published within the last five decades. The economic and societal practices of PPP throughout its evolution path signified the dominant application of this concept as a business model. The bibliometric analysis revealed that PPP has contributed to various sectors, i.e., urban development, public infrastructure, transportation, health, and education, just to name a few. In addition, economic and organizational management of PPP was revealed as a major research stream that was accompanied by sustainable development. As a matter of fact, economic and environmental sustainability are the major cross-disciplinary elements that form an interplay between the drivers and attributes of PPP. Value for money (VfM), technology, and innovation, along with smart infrastructure (SI) and smart cities (SCs), are identified as the major directions for the future research agenda associated with PPP.Public-Private Partnership: A Bibliometric Analysis and Historical EvolutionpublishedVersio

The emergence of lean construction in the Norwegian AEC industry

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Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) Approaches for Public Project Owners

Traditional project delivery methods, including, for example, design-bid-build with unit price contracting, open bidding, and owner quality control, facilitate transparent checks and balances. One shortcoming of traditional methods is that contractors who carry out the projects are not involved in developing them. The growth of increasingly more complex projects demands alternative and evolving project delivery methods to ensure appropriate project delivery, contract compliance, and quality assurance. One of these evolving approaches is early contractor involvement (ECI). ECI is defined in this thesis as involving the contractor during the early phase of projects. According to the literature, ECI has several advantages. However, public owners must confront several barriers when they attempt to involve the contractor during the early phase of in their projects. These barriers primarily arise from the fact that the practices involved differ from traditional business practices. Of particular importance are formal barriers to the implementation of ECI, such as international and national legislation. Predominantly, public owners must face major challenges if they want to involve the contractor during the early phase of a project because the contractor selection methods involved typically defy established standards. Furthermore, public owners are obliged to use competitive and transparent contractor selection procedures based on both price and quality. They are also obliged to treat all tenderers with equality. Fulfilling such obligations is challenging, even with traditional project delivery methods. Thus, it becomes additionally challenging when this set of procurement requirements occurs concurrently with ECI. The purpose of this thesis is to understand more about how to involve the contractor in the early phase of public projects in order to develop suggestions for the success of future projects. 1) What do public owners do to involve the contractor in the early phase of projects? 2) What are the experiences with involving the contractor in the early phase of projects? 3) What measures ought to be implemented in future projects using ECI? What measures ought to be implemented in future projects using ECI? In order to address these research questions, three groups of case studies were conducted on three topics. The three topics were early contractor involvement (ECI), competitive dialogue (CD), and best value procurement (BVP). In addition to reviewing the literature and the document study, 64 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with key professionals from 32 cases selected from Norway and The Netherlands were conducted. This Ph.D. thesis is based on three journal papers and one conference paper: this thesis is the binding, conclusive essay for these papers. Each of the three publications addresses different topics relevant to early contractor involvement (ECI). The research is based on a qualitative, multiple-case studies approach, with knowledge taken from practitioners to achieve an in-depth understanding of ECI. Following the initial literature study, semi-structured interviews with key actors from the selected cases were conducted in addition to a document study of selected cases. There are several views regarding ECI. The view of this thesis is that ECI consist of involving the contractor in the early phase of a project. No one single formula exists to involve the contractor in the early phase of projects. Instead, several approaches exist to involve the contractor in the early phase of projects. The approaches vary depending on how many contractors are involved, how and why they are involved, in which phase they are involved and what kind of contract arrangement is used. During the first group of case studies and literature review, 23 unique approaches to ECI were identified (16 from the literature and seven new from case projects). The findings provide a new direction for ECI by introducing new approaches to ECI identified from the case projects. As one of the approaches to ECI, competitive dialogue (CD) procurement procedure is explored in this thesis in detail. CD is a relatively new procurement procedure that was introduced in 2004 by the European Parliament for particularly complex contracts. Public procurement regulations vary from country to country, even if all countries in Europe were to follow the EU public procurement directives. Procurement practices vary even more between countries. Experiences with the use of new procurement procedures are thus country specific. CD is a novel procurement procedure in Norway, and thus far

Competitive Dialogue in Norwegian Public Infrastructure Projects

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 22 semistructured 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 most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) 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

Early contractor involvement (ECI): ways to do it in public projects

Purpose Early contractor involvement (ECI) faces many barriers because it differs from traditional business practices. Public owners, especially, face a major challenge because they must comply with international and national legislation. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that illustrates the various approaches that public project owners can take to implement ECI. Design/methodology/approach In addition to a literature review, three groups of case studies were carried out. The case studies were based on 54 semi-structured in-depth interviews with key personnel from 21 Norwegian public projects and document study. Findings In all, 25 approaches to ECI were identified during the research. Twelve of these were used in the cases studied. Social implications There are several approaches to ECI that are suitable for public owners. However, the contractor’s contribution depends on which approach is implemented and how it is implemented. Originality/value As original contribution, this study presents a novel framework that defines options for implementing ECI in public projects. Furthermore, this paper provides insights on how ECI can be implemented in public projects based on Norwegian experiences. Although the empirical data of the study is limited to Norwegian public projects, this study contributes to knowledge about how to implement ECI internationally

Competitive Dialogue – experiences with the award criteria

The Competitive Dialogue (CD) is a procurement procedure that was introduced in Norway in 2007. The procedure enables the client to have a dialogue phase with pre-qualified contractors before awarding the contract. When the dialogue phase is over, the client evaluates the tenders based on pre-defined and project-specific most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) award criteria. The purpose of this study is to explore the experience from the use of the award criteria in a project that has used the CD procedure. In addition to an initial literature study and a document study, 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out. This research investigates the infrastructure project E6 Helgeland South with NPRA as a client. The case study indicates that the client finds it demanding to determine suitable award criteria at an early stage. There are uncertainties regarding the weighting of the award criteria and the evaluation process. Both the client and the contractor request more focus on the award criteria at an early phase of the project to align them with the project goal and purpose. This study helps to better understand the influence of the award criteria in the CD procedure

Early contractor involvement approaches in public project procurement

Purpose Early contractor involvement (ECI) faces many barriers when it is implemented in public procurement, given that it is different from traditional business practices. Primarily, public owners face a major challenge, as they should treat all bidders equally. The purpose of this paper is to explore suitable ECI approaches that public owners could use. Design/methodology/approach In addition to a literature and document study, 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews with key personnel from 11 cases selected from Norwegian public bridge projects were carried out. Findings In all, 23 unique approaches of ECI were identified during this research (16 from literature and 7 new from case projects). The findings provide a new direction to ECI through introducing new approaches of ECI from the case projects. Originality/value This paper for the first time presents several alternatives of ECI approaches for public owners with the intention of illustrating ECI is actually possible in the public project procurement. Furthermore, it presents for the first time success factors of ECI with the intention of increasing the understanding of ECI concept from a public procurement perspective

Building Information Modelling: Major Adaptation Barriers in Swedish Bridge Sector

In the recent years, many researchers and construction industry professionals have been looking into the potentials of Building Information Modelling (BIM). The key advantage of BIM is; it ensures the development of detailed information and analysis at an earlier phase in the construction process. Furthermore, BIM also facilitates decision making, reduce downstream changes and in turn results in better quality, lower costs and timely completion of projects. In this study, Swedish building and bridge sectors are studied to show the extent of current BIM practice and proposals have been extended regarding various methods of expanding its benefits in the Swedish bridge sector by identifying the major barriers in BIM adaptation. Semi-structured interviews with BIM experts supported by literature review are used for the study. The overall analysis of the interviews has led to the conclusion that, building sector is benefiting up to a reasonable extent from BIM and its applicability. Nevertheless, BIM application in the bridge sector and its potential cannot be denied. However, new technologies like BIM are difficult to adopt due to various reasons