After completing the prequalification of the design consultants who will be invited by the project owner to submit their proposals for the project design scope of services, the project owner needs to be sure that the Request for Proposal (RFP) document is complete and ready to be shared with the short-listed consultants. This process needs to be formally reviewed and approved by the concerned stakeholders before a formal invitation to tender can be issued to the short-listed consultants.
The Design Consultancy Services RFP will usually include sections for the project background, statement of work, list of deliverables for each project design stage, timeline and milestones, the profile of the proposed consultant team, proposal form, details of professional indemnity and other requested insurance documents, financial proposal, capacity and details of completed works and work in hand, quality management plan, proposed subconsultants, proposed design methodology and conflict of interest if any exist.
Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, the project owner can manage all the processes of the complete project life cycle phases including the process for managing the issuance of the RFP for design consultancy scope of services.
PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the Authorization to Issue RFP for Design Services form which will include a table that will list the sections that are included in the RFP along with the approved version number, date it was approved and by whom it was approved. In addition, the form will include a table that will list the consultants who have been short-listed to receive the RFP.
The final version of the RFP that will be issued to the design consultants needs to be uploaded and stored in the PMWeb document management repository before it is attached to the Authorization to Issue RFP for Design Services form. PMWeb document management repository allows maintaining all previous versions of the RFP by checking out the old version and then checking in the latest version that should have the same file name. PMWeb provides the option to show all RFP versions or only the latest version.
Since this is a newly created form using PMWeb custom form builder, additional data fields and tables can be added to the form to capture any additional information needed by the project management team. This form will precede the formal release of the invitation to tender for the short-listed design consultants.
In addition, a workflow will be assigned to the Authorization to Issue RFP for Design Services to ensure that it is formally reviewed and approved before issuing the RFP invitation to the shortlisted consultants. The stakeholders included in the review and approval process could be members of the different departments that can be impacted by the RFP as well as external bodies that could influence the approval for issuing the RFP.
When the Authorization to Issue RFP for Design Services process receives final approval, the project management team can then proceed with the follow-on process for Issuing Invitations to Tender for the short-listed design consultants.
About the Author
Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with more than 35-year service record providing project management and controls services to over 100 projects with a total value of over US $5 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education, and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment and Shopping Malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, Telecommunication, and Information Technology projects. He is thoroughly experienced in complete project management including project management control systems, computerized project control software, claims analysis/prevention, risk analysis/management (contingency planning), design, supervision, training, and business development.
Bassam is a frequent speaker on topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management, and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 35 years, he has lectured at more than 350 events and courses at different locations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and South America. He has written more than 250 articles on project management and information systems featured in international and regional magazines and newspapers. He is a co-founder of the Project Management Institute- Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC) and has served on its board of directors for more than 6 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP), an Earned Value Professional (EVP) from the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE), and a Green Project Management (GPM).
Bassam holds a Master’s in Engineering Administration (Construction Management) with Faculty Commendation, from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, Bachelor in Civil Engineering – K from Kuwait University, Kuwait, and has attended many executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA, and London Business School, London, UK.