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General Contractor (GC) Has traditionally been awarded a project through the design-bid-build process. Translation: Public Entity contracts with an Architect and/or Engineer (Designer) to provide the following services:

• Program Planning
• Schematic Design         
• Construction Documents
• Contractor Procurement
• Prepares “Bid Documents”
• Assists with solicitation to General Contractors to bid on project
• Reviews proposals and makes a recommendation to public entity
• Construction Administration
• Designer assists the Public Entity with quality, schedule, payment, change orders, etc. review and processing during construction

After the Designer reviews proposals for compliance with bid document requirements, they will offer their recommendation to the public entity regarding contract award.

Strengths of this method:

• Cheapest priced contractor is awarded the Contract
• General Contractor takes risk on all subcontractors assigned to them under the contract

Weaknesses of this method:

• Increases project duration – Construction cannot begin until bid documents, bidding process and contract(s) award has been completed
• Bid proposals may exceed budget
• Contractor(s) are not involved prior to bidding the project, so the Public Entity/Architect lose out on the opportunity to reduce project cost through addressing constructability issues prior to the bid, implementing life cycle and maintenance cost savings and/or the contractor(s) do not have a clear understanding of what the Public Entity/Designer are attempting to accomplish with construction of this project.  
• Contract(s) are awarded based upon lowest price, not past performance, quality of team or “best” value Subcontractors not qualified to perform this type of work may be utilized as a result of their low bid
• Animosity between Public Entity, Designer and General Contractor are inherently built into this delivery method:
  • Public Entity is concerned about errors and omissions of designer, as well as how the “low bid” contractor is going to try to recover costs through quality of work, change orders and/or claims
  • Designer is awarded a design service contract based upon the “lowest” fee and they aren’t typically given the necessary time to adequately complete the planning and development of construction documents prior to requesting/accepting bids.  Designer has to protect himself from the Public Entity and Contractor, further reducing their fee by increasing cost through design changes, inspections and/or claims
  • Contractor is awarded a contract based upon the “lowest/cheapest” bid.  Contractor’s primary interest is to make money; not to build a relationship based upon mutual goals or trust, improve quality or reduce the cost of the project
• When the issues above arise, and they do arise on every project, not everyone is inclined to do what is best for the project and/or its team members.  Often, everyone denies responsibility, as they are training to minimize their cost; which leads to claims and/or litigation, project extensions and a dissolution of project unity 

Project size for using a General Contractor may vary, but RLTurner has typically seen this as the chosen method on projects less than $25M.