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ON THE MOVE HANSON TAPS EMPLOYEE TO PROVIDE LEGAL COUNSEL Hanson Professional Services Inc. has selected Dennis Hollahan, who works at the firm’s Springfield headquarters, to become the company’s first internal legal counsel. He will lead corporate strategic and tactical legal initiatives, provide senior management with advice on company strategies and implementation, and obtain and oversee the work of outside counsel. “Dennis is a natural choice for us,” said Sergio
“Satch” Pecori, P.E., Hanson’s chairman and CEO. “His experience from private practice, the military, and our in-house land acquisition management will serve us well.” Hollahan was a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a helicopter pilot during Desert Storm and later as a judge advocate general for the Illinois Army National Guard. Prior to joining Hanson in 2008, he was the section chief for land acquisition and property management and a special assistant
chief counsel for the Illinois Department of Transportation. He has been a land acquisition project manager for Hanson, working on projects for clients including IDOT, the Illinois Tollway and Illinois county and municipal highway departments. Hollahan earned a degree in economics and political science from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Notre Dame Law School. He is an Illinois licensed attorney at law and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association.
Even though the chosen design-build team in a best value selection can work with the owner post-selection to refine the design, many of the crucial design decisions have already been made and are “baked in” by the time the owner awards the contract. With a PDB selection, the design-build team is hired on qualifications before the design has been developed at all. Cost and schedule commitments are not part of the selection process until phase two, where the owner can opt out or opt to play. The owner can also participate in the selection of subcontractors and suppliers in PDB, before the teams are finally established. “Proponents of PDB say that this method allows better collaboration between the owner and the design-build team, because a single team works closely with the owner during phase one to develop a design together, rather than in a separate silo (as in a best value competition).” Since many procurement laws are drafted around “best value” selection, it may be necessary to amend the state statute or public ordinance to permit PDB as an option. In November 2016, the DBIA board of directors approved a new Progressive Design-Build Agreement (DBIA Doc. No. 545, 2016). This was the result of a two- year collaboration between DBIA and the WDBC to come up with a user-friendly, standard form for PDB, the first industry publication of its kind. Although the document is labeled for use for “water and wastewater projects,” there is nothing in the form that limits its use to that sector. The form can be used for horizontal or vertical projects outside of the water space simply by altering the title page. For a deeper dive into the PDB world, the WDBC publishes a procurement guide, as well as forms for RFQ and RFP. So don’t look puzzled when your client asks, “What’s the new method of project delivery called progressive design- build?” PDB is not to be confused with PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon or professional bull riders). If you tell your client it’s a beer, you’ll be showing your ignorance of the latest trend, and that’s no bull! G. WILLIAM QUATMAN, Esq., is general counsel and senior vice president at Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. He can be reached at bquatman@burnsmcd.com.
or “honorarium” to help defray the cost of competition. Public procurement laws have been drafted around this best value model for many years. But some public owners are asking for an alternative method to hire design- builders, one that does not require a commitment to the design-build process all at once, and one that allows for more collaboration during the design development. Thus was born the process now being called “progressive design- build.” The term was coined by the Water Design-Build Council, whose member firms began to offer an incremental buy-in option for public owners in the water/wastewater sectors. In a two-step progressive design-build selection, the project’s design, cost-estimating, construction schedule, and final GMP, or fixed price, are developed during the first phase, sometimes called the “preliminary services phase.” This phase takes design development to a roughly 40 to 60 percent completion, sufficient to price the work and establish a reliable schedule. If the owner and design-builder agree on the schedule and the fixed price during the first phase, the final design, construction, and commissioning are completed during the second phase, which is sometimes called the “final design and construction phase.” In between the first and second step, the owner has an “off-ramp” in which it can decide that the cost or schedule are not acceptable, thus terminating the project; or: a) go forward with a design-build contract based on the phase one results; b) switch to design-bid-build; or c) solicit proposals from other design-build teams. The design- build team is compensated for its services in phase one regardless of whether the owner proceeds to phase two. Proponents of PDB say that this method allows better collaboration between the owner and the design-build team, because a single team works closely with the owner during phase one to develop a design together, rather than in a separate silo (as in a best value competition). “Most public procurement laws in the state and federal sectors utilize a selection method that has come to be known as the ‘best value’ selection method. This is often known as a ‘three-step’ selection process.”
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THE ZWEIG LETTER April 3, 2017, ISSUE 1194
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