PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES FOR TURNKEY PROCUREMENTS

Transit agencies are increasingly interested in methods to reduce project completion schedules and, potentially, reduce development costs. This paper presents the key project management issues areas encountered by transit agencies under design-build and design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM) procurements and examines how they are addressed through the procurement process and project implementation. Schedule management, cost control, payment mechanisms, quality assurance and quality control, monitoring and reporting, and change order processing are among the project management functions that are highlighted. The paper also examines owner and contractor organizational issues related to turnkey project management control and the realignment of some of these project management functions. This document combines an examination of turnkey projects underway with a selective review of comparable, conventionally-procured transit projects; particularly, in regard to the practical implementation of project management control requirements.