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Defining Contractual Risk Profiles to Increase Competition on Alternative Project Delivery Methods (2025)

Chapter: Appendix C: Interview Questionnaires

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Previous Chapter: Appendix B: Survey Questionnaires

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Suggested Citation: "Appendix C: Interview Questionnaires." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Defining Contractual Risk Profiles to Increase Competition on Alternative Project Delivery Methods. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/29285.

Appendix C: Interview Questionnaires

Appendix C.1: Potential Questions for Structured Interviews
(DOT / Owner Version)

General Information
Agency	Agency name Names and titles of interview participants
Use of Alternative Delivery Methods	What alternative project delivery (APD) methods do you have experience with? Do you have a formal process for selecting the optimum delivery strategy for a project?
Contract Type / Payment Mechanism	How do you generally pay for project delivery services (e.g., firm fixed price, unit price, cost reimbursable, guaranteed maximum price, etc.)? Does this differ based on project delivery method, status of design, project risk, etc.? To what extent do your contracts include allowances or price adjustments clauses to address the status of design, market volatility, etc.? To what extent do your contracts include liquidated damages and/or other incentive/disincentive mechanisms?

Risk Management
Risk Assessment and Contingency Setting	Does your agency have a standard procedure for evaluating project risks? At what point in the project development process do you assess project risks? How does your agency set budget (or schedule) contingency? Is a quantitative risk analysis performed? Does the process consider the cost/time of additional investigations to mitigate risk / reduce uncertainty? In assessing project risks, do you consider how risks allocated to industry may result in requests for relief (site conditions, third party coordination, obtaining temporary easements, etc.)?
Risk Allocation	How do you generally allocate risks for the following: Unexpected geotechnical issues? Environmental issues? Utility coordination? Permitting? Third party issues? New materials, technologies or methods? Quality management Other Does the allocation differ based on PDM? If the risk allocation results in shared risk, how are they typically expressed in the contract documents? Are there any areas that you would like to improve with regard to your current risk allocation and management practices?

Risk Management

Risk Assessment and Contingency Setting

Does your agency have a standard procedure for evaluating project risks?
At what point in the project development process do you assess project risks?
How does your agency set budget (or schedule) contingency?
- Is a quantitative risk analysis performed?
- Does the process consider the cost/time of additional investigations to mitigate risk / reduce uncertainty?
In assessing project risks, do you consider how risks allocated to industry may result in requests for relief (site conditions, third party coordination, obtaining temporary easements, etc.)?

Risk Allocation

How do you generally allocate risks for the following:
- Unexpected geotechnical issues?
- Environmental issues?
- Utility coordination?
- Permitting?
- Third party issues?
- New materials, technologies or methods?
- Quality management
- Other
Does the allocation differ based on PDM?
If the risk allocation results in shared risk, how are they typically expressed in the contract documents?
Are there any areas that you would like to improve with regard to your current risk allocation and management practices?

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Risk and APD Methods

To what extent do more integrated project delivery methods (such as PDB, CM/GC, Progressive P3) affect your perceptions of a project’s risk profile?
What risk factors can impact the successful delivery of capital projects under different APD methods? Does the presence of any specific risk factors drive the decision to use (or not to use) a particular APD method?
Do you attribute the successful implementation of past APD projects to any particular risk allocation strategies or management practices?

Procurement and Contracting Processes
Procurement Approach	How do you typically procure APD services (e.g., low bid, QBS, one or two-step best value, negotiation, etc.)? Does your agency have a formal process for selecting the procurement approach, or is this driven by regulation? How much flexibility do you have in aligning the procurement strategy to the chosen delivery method and project-specific goals and risks?
Delivery Team Selection Criteria	What criteria do you typically use to select the delivery team? Do you consider project specific risks when developing criteria? Have you ever completed project risk management approaches as part of the selection process? If so, please describe the circumstances involved and the weight given to the risk criteria. Is a specific algorithm used to make the selection decision (e.g., weighted criteria or tradeoff approach)? Has industry ever successfully challenged the terms of solicitation or a selection decision?
Procurement Process	Please describe any pre-procurement industry forums, meetings, or other approaches your agency uses to promote interest in upcoming projects. Has industry feedback from such forums ever resulted in rescoping/repackaging of projects, additional investigations and/or design development, and/or changes to the initial delivery method/contracting strategy? Do you allow industry review and comment on draft solicitation documents? If so, has industry feedback ever resulted in significant changes to the draft documents or delivery/contracting approach? Do you allow delivery teams to propose Alternate Technical Concepts (ATCs)? Do you allow confidential one-on-one meetings with delivery teams at any point during the procurement process? What measures do you take to ensure all teams are treated fairly and consistently during these meetings? Do you pay stipends to help stimulate competition and motivate the industry to submit innovative proposals? If so, how are stipends generally set?

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Promoting Owner-Industry Alignment on Risk	How do you address project risks in the solicitation documents? Do you include a risk register or other detailed descriptions of project risks? On projects perceived to have a high level of risk: Do you provide bidders with access to the site to conduct additional investigations? Do procurement / contract documents explicitly define what documents proposers may rely upon (e.g., Geotechnical Baseline Report)? Have you applied any other practices to promote alignment between the agency’s and industry’s perceptions of project-specific risks?
Level of Competition	What level of competition are you getting on large/complex APDM projects? Do you know of any issues or risk factors that resulted in proposers withdrawing from a procurement? Does market interest appear to vary based on project delivery and contracting method (e.g., fixed price DB vs. more collaborative and relational methods such as CM/GC and PDB)?
Contract Development and Negotiation	Does your agency maintain standard contract templates for APD methods? For large or unique projects, are bespoke contracts developed? Do you consider project-specific risk allocation strategies when drafting contract provisions? To what extent is your agency open to negotiating contract terms and conditions? What, if any, terms are considered nonnegotiable? Has your agency ever opted to use an off-ramp during a procurement or preconstruction phase (e.g., for a CM/GC or PDB project)? If so, what were the circumstances involved?

Post-Award Contract Administration
Communication and Collaboration	What tools or techniques have you used to promote real-time collaboration and decision-making between the owner team and the contractor team during project execution? (e.g., co-location, formal partnering, use of Lean tools, etc.)?
Design Oversight	To what extent is your agency involved in the design development process (e.g. review at 30/60/90 progress points)? Do you apply differing levels of design oversight based on the APD method used? How do you ensure your design oversight resources and processes align with the design plans and schedule of the DB team (or CM)? For APDMs that do not entail establishing a fixed price at the time of contract award, what practices do you apply to help ensure construction price reasonableness? (e.g., engagement of an independent cost estimator to reconcile agency and industry estimates; requirements to competitively bid trade packages, etc.?
Construction Oversight	How do you manage or administer the construction portion of the work to ensure it remains on time and on budget? What practices do you use to help promote timely resolution of change requests and potential disputes? Do these processes vary based on the PDM or contract type?

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Performance Outcomes
Perceived Success Factors	In your view, what is a “successful” project? (e.g., on-time/on-budget delivery, meets performance/quality criteria, etc.) What factors do you perceive to be the most important drivers for successful project delivery?
Areas for Improvement	To the extent not already covered, what practices could your organization adopt to improve the delivery of large, complex projects? What practices would you like to see industry adopt to better meet the needs of your organization?

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Appendix C.2: Potential Questions for Structured Interviews
(Industry Version)

General Information
Organization	Organization name Names and titles of interview participants Typical role on APD projects (e.g., contractor, designer, etc.)
Use of Alternative Delivery Methods	What alternative project delivery (APD) methods do you have experience with?
Projects Pursued	What types of APD projects are you most inclined to pursue (size, characteristics)? Do the presence of any specific risk factors influence your decision-making?

Risk Management
Risk Assessment	What project risks tend to be the most difficult to assess and price? What mitigation strategies do you employ if you elect to accept these risks? What issues or risk factors have led your firm to withdraw from a procurement? To what extent do more relational project delivery methods (such as PDB, CM/GC, Progressive P3) influence your perceptions of a project’s risk profile?
Risk Allocation	Which risks do owners tend to misallocate to industry? Unexpected geotechnical issues? Environmental issues? Utility coordination? Permitting? Third party issues? New materials, technologies, or methods? Other Does the misallocation differ based on PDM?

Procurement and Contracting Processes
Procurement Process	What practices could owners adopt to better communicate risk in solicitation documents? To what extent do the following agency practices help align owner and industry perceptions of the risks facing a project: Industry / market soundings Industry review and comment on solicitation documents Use of ATCs and confidential one-on-one meetings Inclusion of a Geotechnical Baseline Report or similar in the solicitation / contract documents Clear identification of “reference” vs. “reliance” documents Other? How prevalent are such practices? Have you found them to be effective?

Procurement and Contracting Processes

Procurement Process

What practices could owners adopt to better communicate risk in solicitation documents?
To what extent do the following agency practices help align owner and industry perceptions of the risks facing a project:
- Industry / market soundings
- Industry review and comment on solicitation documents
- Use of ATCs and confidential one-on-one meetings
- Inclusion of a Geotechnical Baseline Report or similar in the solicitation / contract documents
- Clear identification of “reference” vs. “reliance” documents
- Other?
How prevalent are such practices? Have you found them to be effective?

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	What other practices could owners adopt to better align perceptions of risk (either during procurement or post-award)?
Delivery Team Selection Criteria	How satisfied have you been with the processes owners use to select delivery teams? Consider the following: Clarity and relevance of evaluation criteria Method or algorithm used to make the selection decision (e.g., how are technical and price components scored and combined) Proposal requirements (and the resources needed to develop a responsive proposal) Level of stipends Have you ever challenged the terms of a solicitation or a selection decision?
Contract Negotiation	To what extent do owners negotiate project risk profiles as part of the procurement/contracting process? How could owners modify standard contract terms or practices to optimize the risk transfer? What contract terms do you consider nonnegotiable?
Contractual Relief Events	How satisfied have you been with the contractual relief mechanisms related to: Unexpected geotechnical issues? Environmental issues? Utility coordination? Permitting? Other third-party issues and delays? Scope changes Other

Project Execution
Communication and Collaboration	What tools or techniques have you found to be effective in promoting real-time collaboration and decision-making with the owner team and other project stakeholders (e.g., co-location, formal partnering, BIM, Lean, etc.)? Have you experienced any issues or lessons learned from past teaming arrangements (e.g., designer/contractor relationship on DB project)?
Issue Escalation	Have you encountered difficulties elevating issues to the appropriate level in the owner’s organization to ensure timely decision-making? What practices could owners adopt to improve issue escalation and decisionmaking (e.g., executive-level owner/industry project steering committee)?
Design Phase Management	What design phase issues have you experienced on APDM projects? For example: Timeliness of agency reviews Owner preferences (reasonableness of review comments) Coordination of third-party reviews Changes by stakeholders What practices have you found to be effective in helping to manage the design portion of the work (if applicable) to ensure the overall project remains on time and on budget?

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Construction Phase Management

To the extent not already covered, what construction phase issues have you experienced on APDM projects? For example:
- Effective and timely owner decision-making
- Owner inspection process
- Change management process
- Coordination with third parties
- Owner funding availability
- Project closeout process (e.g., timeliness of final payment)
What practices have you found to be effective in helping to manage the construction portion of the work to ensure the project remains on time and on budget?
How satisfied have you been with the contractual relief mechanisms related to any risks encountered on projects?

Performance Outcomes
Perceived Success Factors	In your view, what is a “successful” project? (e.g., on-time/on-budget delivery, no outstanding disputes, successful partnership with owner and other stakeholders, etc.) What factors do you perceive to be the most important drivers for successful project delivery?
Areas for Improvement	To the extent not already covered, what practices could owners adopt to improve the delivery of large, complex projects?