Evaluation and selection of consultants for design-build projects

The objective of this paper is to construct a model to assist contractors to select design consultants for design-build (DB) projects. A major survey of DB contractors was conducted to gauge the importance of the 40 attributes identified, through mailed standard questionnaire. The principal finding is that 34 of the 40 attributes identified are important for consultant selection and these were used to construct the Consultant Selection Model. The model was tested by six experts, and found to be robust. The conclusion of this study is that consultants who are selected to undertake DB projects need to excel in task perf o rmance and contextual performance. Their fees must be competitive and they must have good relationships with the contractor.