Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
of Engineering
Services and
The Selection
of the Civil
Engineer
Classification of Engineering Services
2.1 GENERAL
The needs for professional civil engineering services vary,
and the civil engineering firms that meet these needs vary in
organizational structure, size, and capability. Many civil
engineering firms provide comprehensive services to the client,
while other firms provide comprehensive services to the client,
while other firms specialize in areas of engineering, such as
geotechnical or structural, and transportation, water and
construction management, and provide their services to a prime
engineer, architect, or owner.
Services provided by Civil Engineers can be
grouped into five broad categories:
Consultations, research, investigations, and
reports
Design services for construction projects
Construction Services
Special services for construction projects
Engineering support services
Academic services
Services as Employee
The types of infrastructure under the domain of civil engineering,
pursuant to RA 544, as amended, include:
This phase involves the establishment of the general size and scope of the project and its location on the
selected site. The preliminary design services may include:
– Consulting with the client, reviewing preliminary reports, clarifying and defining project
requirements, reviewing available data, and discussing general scheduling.
– Advising the client as to whether additional data or services of the type described under the
study and report phase above are required and assisting the client in obtaining such data and
services.
– Preparing preliminary design documents consisting of final design criteria, preliminary
drawings, outline specifications, and written descriptions of the project.
– Preparing revised estimates of probable total project costs.
– Providing periodic status reports.
2.3.3 Final Design Phase
This phase of project development is usually undertaken only after the client has approved the preliminary design phase material. The basic services for the
final design phase may include:
– Preparing construction drawings and specifications showing the character and extent of the project based on the final
accepted preliminary design documents.
– Preparing and furnishing to the client a revised estimate of probable total project costs based on the final drawings
and specifications.
– Furnishing the necessary engineering data and assisting in the application for regulatory permits from local, or
national authorities. This is distinguished from and does not include detailed applications and supporting documents
for government grants-in-aid or planning grants that would be furnished as additional services described later this
section.
– Preparing basic documents related to construction contacts for review and approval by the client (and the client’s legal
and other advisors). These include contact agreement forms, general conditions and supplementary conditions,
invitations to bid, instructions to bidders, insurance and bonding requirements, and other contract-related documents.
– Furnishing to the client specified number of copies of drawings, specifications and other contract documents.
– Providing final design and construction services for design-build contracts. The engineer generally serves as a
subcontractor to a general contractor during the initial planning and design phases. Services provided by the engineer
may extended through the construction phase, as appropriate.
– Providing periodic status reports.
2.3.4 Bidding or Negotiating Phase
3.1 GENERAL
The selection and engagement of a Civil Engineer is one of the most important decisions to be made during the
development of an engineering project. No two Civil Engineer have the same training, experience, capabilities,
personnel, workloads, and particular abilities. Selection of the most qualified Civil Engineer for a specific
project will result in a well-planned and designed, economical, and successful project.
This section presents what experience has shown to be the best and, therefore, the recommended procedure
for the engagement of a Civil Engineer.
3.2 BASIS FOR SELECTION
The client should establish administrative policy and criteria for
the selection of qualified Civil Engineers for particular projects. The
client’s first step is to define the proposed scope of the project. In
some cases, this may be a general statement of the performance
requirements of the project. At other times, the task to be performed
maybe individually identified and defined. By clearly defining the
services which the Civil Engineer is to furnish, the client can accurately
judge whether or not the Civil Engineer is best equipped to provide
them.
Some of the factors that should be considered in the selection
process are:
Some of the factors that should be considered in the selection
process are:
1. The professional and ethical reputation of the Civil Engineer and his staff as
determined by inquiries to previous clients and other references.
2. Responsible Civil Engineers and its employee must be registered professional
Civil Engineers.
3. Civil Engineers should have demonstrated qualifications and expertise,
performing the services required for the project.
4. Civil Engineer should be able to assign qualified engineering staff who will be in
responsible charge of the project and will be able to provide and complete the
required services within the time allotted.
5. The Civil Engineer should have the necessary financial and business resources
to accomplish the assignment and provide continuing service.
The selection procedures described in this manual apply to projects of the private
sector. For government projects, E.O 164 and PD 1594 as amended apply to
procurement of consulting services and selection of contractor for construction,
respectively.
3.3 CLIENT’S SELECTION COMMITTEE
The client’s usual steps in the selection procedure are presented below. If the
client has had satisfactory experience with one or more Civil Engineers, it may
not be necessary to follow all of the steps outlined.
1. By invitation or by public notice, state the general nature of the project, the services required,
and request statements of qualifications and experience from Civil Engineers whoa appear to be
capable of meeting the project requirements. The client may issue a “Request for qualification”
(RFQ) or “Request for proposals” (RFP). RFQs are normally used to ascertain the general
qualifications in a selected area of expertise while RFPs are used to seek Civil Engineers for
creating “short lists” for selecting a Civil Engineer for a specific project.
2. Prepare a budget for the staff time and costs can be expected from potential Civil Engineer prior
to receipt of the RFQs or RFPs.
3. Evaluate the statements of qualifications received. Select at least three Civil Engineers or firms
that may appear to be best qualified for the specific project. However, in fairness to those not
selected it is usually best to make a conscientious effort to keep the number selected for further
consideration for realistic minimum in view of the cost and time required to prepare competent
proposals.
4. Write a letter to each Civil Engineer or selected for further consideration describing the
proposed project in details, including a project scope and outline of services required, and
asking for a proposal describing in detail the Civil Engineer’s plan for managing and performing
the required services, the personnel to be assigned, the proposed schedule, experience with
similar projects, office location in which services are to be performed, financial standing, present
workload, and references.
5. On receipt of proposals, invite the Civil Engineers or firms to meet individually with the selection
committee for interviews and discussions of the desired end results of the project and the
engineering services required.
6. Check with recent clients of each Civil Engineer or firm to determine the quality of
their performance. This check need to be limited to references listed by the Civil
Engineer.
7. List the Civil Engineer or firms in the order of preference, taking into account their
approach and understanding of the project, reputation, experience, financial standing,
size, personnel available, quality of references, workload, location, and other factors
pertinent to the project being considered.
8. Invite the Civil Engineer considered to be best qualified to develop a detailed scope.
List of deliverables and schedules, and to negotiate fair compensation for the services.
9. The compensation proposed by the Civil Engineer should be evaluated on the basis of
the clients experience and budget estimate, taking account of the range of charges
reported in Section 4 herein; giving consideration to the project’s special
characteristics and the scope of services agreed upon. Fair and reasonable
compensation to the Civil Engineer is vital to the success of the project since it will
enable the consultant’s expertise to be fully utilized.
10. If satisfactory agreement is not reached with the first Civil Engineer, the negotiations
should be terminated and the Civil Engineer or firm be notified in writing to that effect.
11. When agreement has been reached on scope, schedule and compensation, the client
and selected Civil Engineer should formalize their agreement in a written contract.
3.5 SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR “LEVEL OF EFFORT” CONTRACTS
Selection of Civil Engineers and the related service professionals, including consultants and sub consultants on
construction projects, should result from competition based on the qualifications and resources best suited to
complete a project successfully in terms of performance quality and cost-effectiveness.
There are many reasons why bidding for consulting Civil Engineering services often produces unsatisfactory results for
the client. Principal among these are:
1. Bidding does not recognize professional judgement, which is the key difference between professional services and
the furnishing of products. Judgement is an essential ingredient in quality engineering services.
2. It is virtually impossible to completely detail in advance the scope of services required for an engineering project
especially for the study and preliminary phases, without lengthy discussions and negotiations with the selected
firm. Lacking specifics, the bidding firms must, in order to be competitive, submit a price for the least effort
envisioned.
3. In-depth studies and analyses by the consulting Civil Engineer are not likely to be performed. The consulting Civil
Engineer selected by lowest bid will often provide only the minimum services necessary to satisfy the client’s
scope and services.
4. The consulting Civil Engineer’s ability to be flexible and creative in meeting the client’s requirements is severely
limited.
5. The engineering designs are likely to be minimal in completeness with the details left to the contractor. This
produces a lower first cost design but tends to add to the cost of the completed project. The lack of design-details
also can and frequently does, lead to a greater number of change orders during construction and to contractor
claims at a later date.
For these reasons, bidding for professional services is not recommended.
3.5.2 Two-Envelope System
The two-envelope system involves submission of a technical proposal in one envelope and a price in a second envelope.
The client then evaluates the technical proposals and selects the best qualified Civil Engineer based on that consulting
Civil Engineer’s technical proposal. At this point in the selection procedure, the client opens the price proposal
submitted in the second envelope and uses this as basis for negotiation of contractual scope and fees. The second
envelope submitter by the unsuccessful proposers are returned unopened.
If the client follows this procedure, the net effect is as outlined in “Qualification-Based Selection procedure,” provided
that the client and the best qualified consulting Civil Engineer have extensive discussions to reach full agreement on the
scope of services.
If both envelopes of all proposers are opened at the same time, a bidding process, as discussed in the section on
“Bidding,” is initiated with attendant disadvantages. Procedures should be established to provide confirmation that the
second envelope is opened for only the successful proposal.
The two-envelope system is not recommended. If used as intended, it is similar to the recommended QBS procedure
except that the added cost to prepare a comprehensive scope and price discourages some consulting Civil Engineers
from participating. The cost to prepare a proper price proposal are considerable to the firms not selected, which
increases the overall business costs of consulting civil engineering and ultimately of the clients.