A Procurement Method that Considers Innovation

A challenge facing buyers in the delivery of innovative construction and facility services is to utilize expertise without increasing project risk. The traditional price-based Design-Bid-Build approach minimizes the utilization of expertise of expert construction vendors by using an owner driven specification. The non-traditional approaches such as design-build, construction management @ risk (CM@Risk), and integrated project delivery are more flexible but still have no methodology to minimize the risk caused by innovative practices. The Best Value Approach utilizing the Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS) and the Information Measurement Theory (IMT) has been tested for over 20 years with high customer satisfaction and performance. However, the use of past performance information still gave the perception of high risk when considering innovative concepts that have never been previously utilized. This research uses a case study of a hospital owner competing the risk of innovative systems with existing, proven systems. The research group had the opportunity to interject the Best Value Approach into the case study delivering the innovative service/equipment requirement, allowing them to see how the approach and created Best Value environment reacted to the expertise that uses innovation. The case study involves the delivery of cutting edge cancer technology, the proton cancer treatment equipment/system. Even though the delivered service is not standard construction, the delivery approach can be easily used in construction.