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Job Order Contracting (also known as Delivery Order Contracting and SABER) is fast becoming the preferred technique for repair and renovation, and for some new construction and maintenance projects in the private and public sectors. Owners and contractors alike are realizing the benefits of projects that can be started quickly and have few delays, cost overruns, and quality disputes.
The author, a leading JOC expert and practitioner, describes how to:
- Evaluate projects to determine those best suited to JOC.
- Establish a JOC program.
- Evaluate JOC proposals and award contracts.
- Handle general requirements and estimating.
- Partner for maximum benefits.
JOC provides facility owners with an on-call general contractor familiar with the site and the owner's needs. JOC contracts are long-term, fostering partnering - and mutual benefits - for participants. Firm, fixed-price project delivery orders are based on pre-established unit prices and competitively bid multipliers or coefficients. These factors expedite projects and help ensure that schedule, cost and quality goals are met.
This book will quickly bring you up to speed on Job Order Contracting standard practices so you can begin to implement and benefit from this advantageous delivery method. The author explaines JOC's contract provisions and procedures, step by step, and provides tips and cautions based on his extensive experience.
Excerpt from the Foreword
Have you ever felt trapped by the small project dilemma? In this situation, there are too many small things to be done - repairs, maintenance tasks, renovations, or small construction projects. Yet none are big enough individually to attract anyone's attention or to justify the administrative time and expense required for the standard project procurement procedures. These are the projects that never seem to leave the bottom of your task list, taking a low priority beneath the bigger jobs. The fact remains that these small jobs are no less important to those who need to have them accomplished.
Fortunately, there is a cost-effective, time-efficient solution. It is called job order contracting, or JOC. This book will give you all the information needed to use this flexible project delivery method to its fullest potential. Job order contracting relies on pre-established unit prices. It provides an owner with an on-call contractor who is familiar with the site and the owner's needs. JOC is a vitally important tool in the owner's contracting repertoire.
Standard medium-sized and large construction projects that result in new facilities can be built efficiently using delivery methods such as design-build or construction manager-at-risk. With these larger projects, the process of planning, soliciting qualifications and proposals, and conducting competitive evaluation of firms does not constitute a large percentage of total project cost or time expended. For small projects, however, the procurement process consumes a larger chunk of the project budget if the projects have to be contracted individually every time. The result is increased total project cost and completion time.
The JOC delivery method eliminates this problem. It is particularly well-suited to repetitive jobs and small tasks that will need to be accomplished over a period of time, without the exact timing and detailed requirements of each job completely defined. Many diverse tasks, such as routine maintenance, upgrades and renovations, alterations, and minor construction, are handled efficiently using a single JOC contract.
Independent research studies have shown significant cost savings associated with the use of JOC. These savings are a result of lower procurement costs per project, lower contractor overhead per project, reduced design costs, and fewer change orders and claims.
Despite the documented benefits, misconceptions and a misunderstanding of the JOC process have prevented this valuable method from being used as often as it could be. The most common myth is that the process involves no competition, resulting in higher costs. A frequent misconception is that once the contract is in place, there is no control over pricing and the contractor can inflate costs. Another is that JOC projects are not open for scrutiny.
The reality is that job order contracting has been used with great success for more than a decade in both public and private sectors. The results have shown that JOC contracts provide better quality work with lower project costs and shorter completion times. This book clearly dispels the myths surrounding job order contracting and contributes to a better understanding of the process.
Once accurate information about the nature of job order contracting is understood, it is easy to see the important advantages it provides. First and foremost, each job is not subject to the delays and costs associated with the traditional procurement process. Equally important is the long-term relationship with a quality job order contracting firm, which encourages efficient communication, effective teamwork, and mutual trust. These established partnerships result in faster service and higher quality and are the key to realizing the most benefit from the job order contracting experience.
About the Author
Allen L Henderson has over 30 years of experience as a contractor and owner's representative. He is currently assistant director of facilities planning, design and construction at Texas State University-San Marcos. Mr Henderson is the founder and president of the Texas Job Order Contract Conference and represents Texas State as a member of the Center for Job Order Contracting Excellence at Arizona State University. |
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