Best-Value Bid Selection Methods for Performance-Based Roadway Maintenance Contracts

Abstract

Performance-based contracts for roadway maintenance extend over multiple years and shift the responsibility to the contractor to maintain roadway assets at specific performance levels. Thus contractors need to be selected with best-value methods rather than with the conventional low-bid method. Best-value bid selection considers both the bid price and technical aspects of the proposal (e.g., contractor qualifications, quality management plan, experience). This study evaluated the best-value bid selection methods used by four highway agencies in the United States (Florida, North Carolina), New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to procure roadway maintenance contracts on the basis of performance. A numerical analysis of these four methods indicated that those best-value bid selection methods that used the adjusted price concept balanced price and technical marks, those that used direct price and technical weights favored low bids, and those that considered the maximum technical quality offered by the bidders favored bids with high technical marks.