Comparison of alternative contracting methods over 10 years in a large state transportation agency

The construction industry is currently under pressure due to the increase in population and deterioration of infrastructure in the last twenty-five years. The Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT)’s response to this pressure has led to using Alternative Contracting Methods (ACMs) as replacements of the traditional contracting method, Design-Bid-Build (DBB), which has been serving the public for over a century. ACMs such as design-build (D-B), lump sum contracting, incentive/disincentive (I/D), cost-plus-time (A+B), and no excuse bonus (NEB) have proven to increase project quality, expedite schedule and decrease costs. The performance of ACMs by FDOT on highway construction projects was evaluated by two reports conducted in 2007 (Ellis et al. 2007) and 2016 (Minchin et al. 2016). Based on these two reports, the research analyzed the change in the performance and number of projects applied in ACMs between 2007 and 2016. This research compared the number of projects, costs, and time of the above-mentioned studies to assess the change and the reason behind it encountered in this comparison. The results of this research show that all ACMs evaluated in the 2016 report were performing better than they performed nine years prior, in 2007, in terms of time and cost. Potential obstacles to applying ACMs and lessons learned were identified in the research, as well as recommendations that would help FDOT to improve the application of ACMs in transportation projects.