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

Engineers 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 the Civil Engineer.
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BASIS OF SELECTION
The client should establish administrative policy and criteria for the selection
of qualified Civil Engineers for particular projects. The clients 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 other
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 the best equipped to provide them.

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 of the Civil Engineers and its employees must be registered
professional Civil Engineers.
3.Civil Engineers should have demonstrated qualifications and expertise in
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 with the time allotted.
5.The civil engineer should have the necessary financial and business resources to
accomplish the assignment and provide continuing services.

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.
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CLIENT’S SELECTION COMMITTEE

With the client’s organization, there should be an established administrative
policy for designating the persons authorized to select or recommend selection of
Civil Engineers for specific assignments. The persons appointed should be familiar
with the project requirements and should be kept free of internal or external
pressure during the selection process.

One satisfactory procedure is to utilize a selection committee of three or more

individuals, at least of whom is a professional engineer of the appropriate
discipline. For public projects, the client must choose individuals who demonstrate
objectively in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in the
selection of the Civil Engineer. At least one of the individuals should be
thoroughly familiar with the Civil Engineering practices. The committee is
responsible for making recommendations after conducting appropriate investigations,
interviews, and inquiries. The final selection committee’s recommendations.

QUALIFICATIONS-BASED SELECTION (QBS) PROCEDURE

The selection procedure is considerably enhanced when the client is fully
familiar with the purpose and nature of the proposed project, can describe the
project in detail, and prepare a project scope and the outline of the services
expected of the Civil Engineer. In some cases the client may not have professional
staff available to define the project scope an describe the required services. The
client should still be familiar enough with the project requirements to understand
what is expected of the Civil Engineer. The selection procedure, however, can be
modified to suit the circumstances.

The client’s usual steps in 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 the steps outlined.

1.By invitation or by public notice, states the general nature of the project, the
services required, and request statements of qualifications and experience from
Civil Engineers who appear to be capable of meeting the project requirements. The
client may issue a “ Request for Qualifications” (RFQ) or “ Request for proposals”
(RFP). RFQ’s are normally used to ascertain the general qualifications in a
selected area of expertise while RFPs are used to seek Civil Engineers for creating
“shortlists” for selecting a Civil Engineer for a specific project.
2.Prepare a budget for the staff time and costs that can be expected from potential
Civil Engineer prior to receipt of the RFQs and 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.
It should be noted that often more than three Civil Engineers or firms may appear
to be equally qualified – in which case more Civil Engineers or firms may be
considered. 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 firm selected for further consideration
describing the proposed project in detail, 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. Each Civil Engineer or firm should have an opportunity to
visit the site, review all pertinent data and obtain clarification of any items
required. For major or complex projects a pre-proposal conference may be desirable
to explain details of the proposed scope of services and to answer questions.

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. These
interviews may be held at the Civil Engineer’s office. The client may consider
supplementing the selection committee with personnel who have specialized expertise
to advise the committee, when appropriate. During each interview the selection
committee should review the qualifications and experience of each Civil Engineer of
firm, the capability to provide the services within the time allotted, and the key
personnel to be assigned to the project.
6. Check with the 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 firm 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. Similar negotiations should the be held with the second
Civil Engineer or firm and, if necessary, with the third Civil Engineer or firm if
no chord is reached, the client should seek outside assistance before continuing
with the selection process. Such a procedure will usually result in development of
a satisfactory contract. All such negotiations should be on a strictly confidential
basis and in no case should the compensation discussed with one Civil Engineer be
disclosed to another.

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.
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SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR “LEVEL OF EFFORT” CONTRACTS

A “level of effort” type of contract for engineering services is a contract
procedure used to supplement a client staff, either by providing an extension to
existing disciplines and capabilities already on board or by adding special
disciplines not available on the client’s staff.

As applied to “level of effort” contracts, the QBS procedure sets forth the general
nature of services to be rendered, the type of specialists required and the
estimated number of hours required during the contract period for each type and
grade of specialist, and then requests proposals from qualified firms. Proposals
usually state the experience of the firm as it pertains to the given scope of
services, and the backgrounds of the specialists available to work on the project.
After narrowing the proposals to those which best meet experience qualifications,
the client negotiates an agreement as described in paragraphs 9-11 above.

BIDDING
Professional engineering and architectural societies, recognize QBS as the
preferred method for procurement of professional services. In fact the NEDA
Guidelines require the procurement of professional engineering and architectural
services only by a process similar to that described in “Qualifications Based
Selection Procedure,” above.

Selection of Civil Engineers and related service professionals, including

consultants and subconsultants 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.
Qualifications and resources, including training, professional licensing
experience, skills, capabilities, special expertise personnel, and workloads are
paramount considerations in engaging engineering services. Cost of these services,
while important and meriting careful negotiations and performance accountability,
are a small portion of overall project cost and should be subordinate to
professional qualifications and experience.

There are many why bidding for consulting Civil Engineering services often produces
unsatisfactory results for client. Principal among these are:

1.Bidding does not recognize professional; judgement, which is the key difference
between professional services and the furnishing products. Judgement is an
essential ingredient in quality engineering services.
2.It is virtually possible 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. The resulting service performed is likely to
be tailored to fit the minimal requirements of the bid documents and will not
necessarily suit the client’s need or expectations.
3.In-depth studies and analyses by the consulting Civil Engineer are not likely to
be performed. The consulting Civil Engineer selected by the 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

TWO-ENVELOPE SYSTEM
The two-envelope system involves submission of a technical proposal in one
envelope and price proposal in a second envelope. The client then evaluates the
technical proposals and selects the based 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 a basis for negotiation of contractual scope and fees. The second
envelopes submitted by the unsuccessful proposers are returned unopened.
If the client follows this procedure, the net effect is as outlined in
“Qualifications-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. This allows the client to utilize the knowledge
and experience of the consulting Civil Engineer in establishing the scope of
services. Upon agreement of scope, the price of services should be negotiated to
reflect changes from the original scope used for obtaining proposals.

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 costs 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.