THE SELECTION

OF THE CIVIL
ENGINEER
Presented By:
Dimaguila
Gonzales
Macaraeg
Ruiz

BASIS
FOR
SELECTION

Factors that should be considered

in the selection process:
The professional and ethical reputation of
the Civil Engineer and his staff as
determined by inquiries to previous clients
and other references.
Responsible
Civil
Engineers
and
its
employee
and
must
be
registered
professional Civil Engineers.
Civil Engineers should have demonstrated
qualifications and expertise, performing the
services required for the project.

 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.
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.
E.O. 164- Providing additional guidelines
in the processing and approval of
contracts of the national government
PD
1594
Prescribing
Policies,
Guidelines, Rules and Regulations for

CLIENTS
SELECTION
COMMITTEE

 Within the clients 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 one
of whom is a professional engineer of the
appropriate discipline. For public projects, the client
must choose individuals who demonstrate objectivity
in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of
interest in the selection of the Civil Engineer.

QUALIFICATIONSBASED SELECTION
(QBS) PROCEDURE

The clients usual steps in the selection procedure are

presented. If the client has had satisfactory experience
with one or more Civil Engineers, it may not be necessary to
follow all the steps outlined.

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 who appear to be capable of meeting the
project requirements. The client may issue a Request
for qualifications (RFQ) or Request for Proposals (RFP).
RFQs are normally used to ascertain the general
qualifications in a selected are of expertise while RFPs
are used to seek Civil Engineers for creating short lists
for selecting a Civil Engineer for a specific project.

 Prepare a budget for the staff the and costs that

can be expected from potential Civil Engineer
prior to receipt of the RFQs or RFPs.
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.

 Write a letter to each Civil Engineer or 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 Engineers 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.

 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 Engineers office.

 Check with recent clients of each Civil engineer

or firm to determine the quality of their
performance. This check need not be limited to
references listed by the Civil Engineer.
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.

 Invite the Civil Engineer considered to be

best qualified to develop a detailed
scope. List of deliverables and schedule,
and to negotiate fair compensation for
the services.
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
projects special characteristics and the
scope of services agreed upon.

 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 be held with the
second Civil Engineers or firm and, if
necessary, with the third Civil Engineers
or firm. If no accord is reached , the
client should seek outside assistance
before continuing with the selection
process.
When agreement has been reached on

SELECTION
PROCEDURE FOR
LEVEL EFFORT
CONTRACTS

BIDDING

REASONS WHY BIDDING FOR CONSULTING

CIVIL ENGINEERING SERVICES OFTEN
PRODUCES UNSATISFACTORY RESULTS FOR
THE CLIENT:

Bidding does not recognize professional

judgment, which is the key difference between
professional services and the furnishing of
products. Judgment is an essential ingredient in
quality engineering services.
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.

 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 clients scope of services.
The consulting Civil Engineers ability to be
flexible and creative in meeting the clients
requirements is severely limited.

 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.

TWO-ENVELOPE SYSTEM

It involves submission of a technical

proposal in one envelope and a price
proposal in a second envelope. The client
then evaluates the technical proposals
and selects the best qualified Civil
Engineer based on that consulting Civil
Engineers 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

Charging for
Civil Engineering
Services
Section 4

Charges for Engineering services are

usually computed using one of six
methods:

1. Salary cost times multiplier plus

direct non-salary expense
(Reimbursable)
2. Hourly billing rates plus
reimbursable.
3. Per diem.
4. Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF)
5. Fixed price
6. Percentage of construction cost
(Percentage)

 Combinations of methods of payment

for different phase of the contract may
be used.
The method or combination of methods
used depends upon the nature, scope
and complexity of services required by
the client.
The fixed price and percentage of
construction cost methods are based
upon a specific deliverable and do
require that the project scope be well
defined.
It is logical to propose that an upper
limit (maximum amount) for these

 The Civil Engineer is require to inform

the client when engineering cost are
approaching 75% of a stated budget
figure and to forecast the probable
total cost.
The charge for engineering services
using the fixed price or the
percentage of construction cost
methods is based entirely on the
scope of the services.

Salary Cost Times Multiplier Plus Direct

Non-Salary Expense
The Salary Cost times multiplier method
may be utilized as either a Multiplier times
salary cost(two multiplier version) or a
Multiplier times direct salary cost (single
multiplier version)
The direct salary times multiplier or
direct labor times multiplier version is
similar to the salary cost times multiplier
with the exception that it applies a single
multiplier

Factors are pertinent to the salary cost

times multiplier version of this method
.Salary cost direct salaries plus employee
benefits and includes salaries for partners or
principals and for technical, professional,
administrative and clerical staff directly
.Multiplier applied to salary cost is a factor that
compensates the civil engineer for overhead plus
a reasonable margin for contingencies interest or
invested capital readiness to server, and profit.

Direct non-salary expenses

Living and travelling expenses
Communication expenses
Expenses for services and technical
equipment

Drafting
supplies,
stenographic
supplies and reproduction work
Expenses for unusual insurance and
specialized health and safety programs

 The civil engineers overhead which

comprises a major portion of the
compensation
generated
by
the
multiplier on salary cost
Accounting records Applicable payroll
records together with the receipts or
other
documents
to
substantiate
chargeable expenditures, must be
available for inspection audit by the
client`

HOURLY BILLING RATE

Similar
to the salary cost times
multiplier method in that the hourly billing
rate includes all direct personal expense,
overhead and profit

PER DIEM
The term per diem normally refers to an eight-hour day.
The basis is particularly
Suited to expert witness or other legal-type services
and to other short-term
Engagements involving intermittent personal services.
Where per diem services are furnished, the Civil
Engineer should be compensated for all of the time
devoted to providing them, including travel and
standby time. The per diem charge should be based on
the complexity, risk, and important of the services and
on the Civil Engineers professional standing, expertise,
and breadth of experience.
The Civil Engineer is also reimbursed for travel and
subsistence costs and for other out-of-pocket expenses

COST PLUS FIXED FEE

Cost plus fixed fee agreement, the Civil
Engineer is reimbursed for the for the actual
costs of all services and supplies related to
the project, including:
Salary Costs
Overhead
Direct non-salary expenses
Fixed fee, and amount to compensate the
Civil Engineer for contingencies, interest on

The cost plus fixed fee method can also be used when the Civil Engineer is
required to start providing service before the detailed scope of services can
be determined

1. The general scale and intent of the project should be

fairly well defined, even if the full scope is indeterminate;
for example, the number, size, and character of buildings
or other facilities, the type of utilities, and other such
essential information should available.
2. The type of service to be performed by the Civil
Engineer should be agreed upon and fully set forth. The
agreements should also provide for appropriate
adjustments in the fixed fee, in the event that the
physical scope of the project, time of completion, or level
of effort and services required are materially changed
over those contemplated during the negotiations.

FIXED PRICE
The fixed price method of compensation is
frequently used for investigations and studies and
for basic services on design type projects where the
scope and complexity of the assignment are clearly
and fully defined.
The fixed price amount can be calculated as the sum
total of estimated engineering costs for salaries,
overhead and non-salary expenses, an allowance for
contingencies, interest on invested capital, readiness
to serve, and a reasonable amount of profit.

 A fixed price agreement should contain a clearly

stated time period during which the services will
be performed and a provision for adjustment of
compensation if the project is delayed for reasons
beyond the Civil Engineers control.
Partial payments should be made to the Civil
Engineer at stated intervals usually once a month
during the performance of the services.

PERCENTAGE OF
CONSTRUCTION COST
This method may be used to determined
the compensation of the engineer for
services where the principal responsibility is
the detailed or construction supervision of
facilities to be constructed.

 The percentage fee shall consider the type,

complexity, location, and magnitude of construction
cost of the project and shall not exceed the
following percentages of estimated construction
cost:

a. Feasibility studies-three percent (3%);

b. Detailed engineering design-six percent (6%);
c. Detailed architectural and engineering designeight percent
(8%); and
d. Construction supervision-ten percent (10%)
Note: These percentages include only those works
normally undertaken in arriving at the expected
outputs and do not include special studies or
investigations.

SCHEDULE OF MINIMUM
BASIC FEES
Rates of compensation for Civil Engineers
engaged in various capacities are given in
Annex B. The PICE shall regularly update the
schedule of fees stipulated in the Annex.
Certain principles should however be observed
as follows.
1. When doing work on foreign assisted
projects, or in projects where international
consultants participate, the Civil Engineer
performing similar or equivalent work, should
accept compensation that approximates the
international standards rates.

2. Civil Engineers regularly employed in the

private sector shall have a minimum compensation
of 10% more than the minimum wage prevailing in
the region as basic monthly salary. Civil Engineers
employed in the government sector shall have a
minimum basic monthly salary corresponding to
appropriate
entry positions provided by the Civil
Service Commission (CSC).
3. A Civil Engineer employed in the private
sector who signs and
seals Civil Engineering
related documents of a certain project for
and
behalf of his employers shall be compensated with
a minimum of 10% of the professional fee for the
project, over and above the basic monthly salary.