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Module 5. The Selection of the Civil Engineer

Overview
This module is intended to provide the students the knowledge on how the
selection of a civil engineer is being done hence be guided with what they should do
so that they can compete among other engineers.

Learning Objectives
Students are expected to be aware of the professional competition and be
able to embrace the said reality and be inspired to enhanced or develop their
qualifications to be competent enough for the engineering services they are planning
to be dealing with in the future.

Topics
This module will discuss the following:
 Basis for Selection
 Client’s Selection Committee
 Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) Procedure
 Selection Procedure for “Level of Effort Contracts

Introduction
According to PICE Manual, the selection and engagement of a Civil Engineer
is one of the most important decisions to be made during the development of an
engineering project. No two Civil Engineers have the same training experience,
capabilities, personnel, workloads, and particular' abilities. Selection of the most
qualified Civil Engineer for a specific project will result in a well-planned and
designed, economical, and successful project.
This section presents what experience has shown to be the best and,
therefore, the recommended procedure for the engagement of a Civil Engineer.

Discussion
The discussion below is based on what has been presented in the PICE
Manual.

BASIS FOR SELECTION

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 The client should establish administrative policy and criteria for the selection
of qualified Civil Engineers for particular projects. The client's first step is to define
the proposed scope of the project. In some cases, this may be a general statement
of the performance requirements of the project. At other times, the tasks to be
performed maybe individually identified and defined. By clearly defining the services
which the Civil Engineer is to furnish, the client can accurately judge whether or not
the Civil Engineer is best equipped to provide them.
Some of the factors that should be considered in the selection process are:
1. The professional and ethical reputation of the Civil Engineer and his staff as
determined by inquiries to previous clients and other references.
2. Responsible Civil Engineers and its employees must be registered
professional Civil Engineers.
3. Civil Engineers should have demonstrated qualifications and expertise in
performing the services required for the project.
4. Civil Engineer should be able to assign qualified engineering staff who will be
in responsible charge of the project and will be able to provide and complete
the required services within the time allotted.
5. The Civil Engineer should have the necessary financial and business
resources to accomplish the assignment and provide continuing service.

The selection procedures described in this manual apply to projects of the

private sector. For government projects, E.O. 164 and PD 1594 as amended apply to
procurement of consulting services and selection of contractor for construction,
respectively.

CLIENT'S SELECTION COMMITTEE

Within the client's organization, there should be an established administrative
policy for designating the persons authorized to select or recommend selection of
Civil Engineers for specific assignments. The persons appointed should be familiar
with the project requirements and should be kept free of internal or external pressure
during the selection process.
One satisfactory procedure is to utilize a selection committee of three or more
individuals, at least one of whom is a professional engineer of the appropriate
discipline. For public projects, the client must choose individuals who demonstrate
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objectivity in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in the selection of
the Civil Engineer. At least one of the individuals should be thoroughly familiar with
the civil engineering practices. The committee is responsible for making
recommendations. after conducting appropriate investigations, interviews, and
inquiries. The final selection is then based upon the selection committee's
recommendations.

QUALIFICATIONS-BASED SELECTION (QBS) PROCEDURE

The selection procedure is considerably enhanced when the client is fully
familiar with the purpose and nature of the proposed project, can describe the project
in detail, and can prepare a project scope and outline of services expected of the
Civil Engineer. In some cases the client may not have professional staff available to
define the project scope and describe the required services. The client should still be
familiar enough with the project requirements to understand what is expected of the
Civil Engineer. The selection procedure, however, can be modified to suit the
circumstances.
The client's usual steps in the selection procedure are presented below. If the
client has had satisfactory experience with one or more Civil Engineers, it may not
be necessary to follow all of the steps outlined.
1. By invitation or by public notice, state the general nature of the project, the
services required, and request statements of qualifications and experience
from Civil Engineers who appear to be capable of meeting the project
requirements. The client may issue a "Request for qualifications" (RFQ) or
"Request for proposals" (RFP). RFQs are normally used to ascertain the
general qualifications in a selected area of expertise while RFPs are used to
seek Civil Engineers for creating "short lists" for selecting a Civil Engineer for
a specific project.
2. Prepare a budget for the staff time and costs that can be expected from
potential Civil Engineer prior to receipt of the RFQs or RFPs.
3. Evaluate the statements of qualifications received. Select at least three Civil
Engineers or firms that may appear to be best qualified for the specific project.
It should be noted that often more than three Civil Engineers or firms may
appear to be equally qualified - in which case more Civil Engineers or firms
may be considered. However, in fairness to those not selected it is usually
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 best to make a conscientious effort to keep the number selected for further
consideration for realistic minimum in view of the cost and time required to
prepare competent proposals.
4. Write a letter to each Civil Engineer or firm selected for further consideration
describing the proposed project in detail, including a project scope and outline
of services required, and asking for a proposal describing in detail the Civil
Engineer's plan for managing and performing the required services, the
personnel to be assigned, the proposed schedule, experience with similar
projects, office location in which services are to be performed, financial
standing, present workload, and references. Each Civil Engineer or firm
should have an opportunity to visit the site, review all pertinent data and
obtain clarification of any items as required. For major or complex projects, a
pre-proposal conference may be desirable to explain details of the proposed
scope of services and to answer questions.
5. On receipt of proposals, invite the Civil Engineers or firms to meet individually
with the selection committee for interviews and discussions of the desired end
results of the project and the engineering services required. These interviews
may be held at the Civil Engineer's office. The client may consider
supplementing the selection committee with personnel who have specialized
expertise to advise the committee, When appropriate. During each interview
the selection committee should review the qualifications and experience of
each Civil Engineer or firm, the capability to provide the services within the
time allotted, and the key personnel to be assigned to the project.
6. Check with recent clients of each Civil Engineer or firm to determine the
quality of their performance. This check need not be limited to references
listed by the Civil Engineer.
7. List the Civil Engineer or firms in the order of preference, taking into account
their approach and understanding of the project, reputation, experience,
financial standing, size, personnel available, quality of references, workload,
location, and other factors pertinent to the project being considered.
8. Invite the Civil Engineer considered to be best qualified to develop a detailed
scope, list of deliverables and schedule, and to negotiate fair compensation
for the services.

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 9. The compensation proposed by the Civil Engineer should be evaluated on the
basis of the clients experience and budget estimate, taking account of the
range of charges reported in Section 4 herein; giving consideration to the
project's special characteristics and the scope of services agreed upon. Fair
and reasonable compensation to the Civil Engineer is vital to the success of
the project since it will enable the consultant's expertise to be fully utilized.
10. If satisfactory agreement is not reached with the first Civil Engineer, the
negotiations should be terminated and the Civil Engineer or firm be notified in
writing to that effect. Similar negotiations should then be held with the second
Civil Engineer or firm and, if necessary, with the third Civil Engineer or firm. If
no accord is reached, the client should seek outside assistance before
continuing with the selection process. Such a procedure will usually result in
development of a satisfactory contract. All such negotiations should be on a
strictly confidential basis, and in no case should the compensation discussed
with one Civil Engineer be disclosed to another.
11. When agreement has been reached on scope, schedule and compensation,
the client and selected Civil Engineer should formalize their agreement in a
written contract.

SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR "LEVEL OF EFFORT" CONTRACTS

A "level of effort" type of contract for engineering services is a contract
procedure used to supplement a client staff, either by providing an extension to
existing disciplines and capabilities already on board or by adding special disciplines
not available on the client's staff.
As applied to "level of effort" contracts, the QBS procedure sets forth the
general nature of services to be rendered, the types of specialists required and the
estimated number of hours required during the contract period for each type and
grade of specialist, and then requests proposals from qualified firms. Proposals
usually state the experience of the firm as it pertains to the given scope of services,
and the backgrounds of the specialists available to work on the project. After
narrowing the proposals to those which best meet experience qualifications, the
client negotiates an agreement as described in paragraphs above.

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Bidding
Professional engineering and architectural societies, recognize QBS as the
preferred method for procurement of professional services. In fact, the NEDA
Guidelines require the procurement of professional engineering and architectural
services only by a process similar to that described in "Qualifications-Based
Selection Procedure," above.
Selection of Civil Engineers and related service professionals, including
consultants and subconsultants on construction projects, should result from
competition based on the qualifications and resources best suited to complete a
project successfully in terms of performance. quality and cost- effectiveness.
Qualifications and resources, including training, professional licensing experience,
skills, capabilities, special expertise personnel, and workloads, are paramount
considerations in engaging engineering services. Costs of these services, while
important and meriting careful negotiations and performance accountability, are a
small portion of overall project costs and should be subordinate to professional
qualifications and experience.
There are many reasons why bidding for consulting Civil Engineering services
often produces unsatisfactory results for the client. Principal among these are:
1. Bidding does not recognize professional judgment, which is the key difference
between professional services and the furnishing of products. Judgment is an
essential ingredient in quality engineering services.
2. It is virtually impossible to completely detail in advance the scope of services
required for an engineering project especially for the study and preliminary
phases, without lengthy discussions and negotiations with the selected firm.
Lacking specifics, the bidding firms must, in order to be competitive, submit a
price for the least effort envisioned. The resulting service performed is likely to
be tailored to fit the minima' requirements of the bid documents and will not
necessarily suit the client's needs or expectations.
3. In-depth studies and analyses by the consulting Civil Engineer are not likely to
be performed. The consulting Civil Engineer selected by lowest bid will often
provide only the minimum services necessary to satisfy the client's scope of
services.
4. The consulting Civil Engineer's ability to be flexible and creative in meeting
the client's requirements is severely limited.
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 5. The engineering designs are likely to be minimal in completeness with the
details left to the contractor. This produces a lower first cost design but tends
to add to the cost of the completed project. The lack of design-details also can
and frequently does, lead to a greater number of change orders during
construction and to contractor claims at a later date.
For these reasons, bidding for professional services is not recommended.

Two-Envelope System
The two-envelope system involves submission of a technical proposal in one
envelope and a price proposal in a second envelope. The client then evaluates the
technical proposals and selects the best qualified Civil Engineer based on that
consulting Civil Engineer's technical proposal. At this point in the selection
procedure, the client opens the price proposal submitted in the second envelope and
uses this as a basis for negotiation of contractual scope and fees. The second
envelopes submitted by the unsuccessful proposers are returned unopened.
If the client follows this procedure, the net effect is as outlined in
"Qualifications-Based Selection procedure," provided that the client and the best
qualified consulting Civil Engineer have extensive discussions to reach full
agreement on the scope of services. This allows the client to utilize the knowledge
and experience of the consulting Civil Engineer in establishing the scope of services.
Upon agreement of scope, the price of services should be negotiated to reflect
changes from the original scope used for obtaining proposals.
If both envelopes of all proposers are opened at the same time, a bidding
process, as discussed in the section on "Bidding," is initiated with attendant
disadvantages. Procedures should be established to provide confirmation that the
second envelope is opened for only the successful proposal.
The two-envelope system is not recommended. If used as intended, it is
similar to the recommended QBS procedure except that the added cost to prepare a
comprehensive scope and price discourages some consulting Civil Engineers from
participating. The costs to prepare a proper price proposal are considerable to the
firms not selected, which increases the overall business costs of consulting civil
engineering and ultimately of the clients.

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 Student Activity # 5. Make and interview to HR personnel of one of the
construction company in the province on their selection or hiring of a civil
engineers being done. Make a report on this.
Surname_StudentActivity5 send to FB Msger Account Celeste A. De Asis

Feedback
This activity will help the student on the realization of the actual selection
procedure in hiring a civil engineer.

Summary
The professional competition nowadays among the civil engineers is tight
which makes selection of the same is quite tedious hence standard procedure of the
selection is a must.

Reference
Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers, Inc. 2003. Manual of Professional
Practice for Civil Engineers, 2nd Edition. Manila: Philippine Institute of Civil
Engineers, Inc.

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