Print Email Facebook Twitter Structuring of early design decisions in large infrastructure tenders: How to find the optimal design? Title Structuring of early design decisions in large infrastructure tenders: How to find the optimal design? Author Van der Meer, J.P. Hartmann, A. Van der Horst, A.Q.C. Dewulf, G.P.M.R. Faculty Civil Engineering and Geosciences Department Structural Engineering Date 2013-07-11 Abstract Decision making in the tender phase of large infrastructural projects is a complex task for contractors as they have to make design decisions with long term effects and based on complex client requirements. Further complexity is added by the constrained environment of a tender and the uncertainty of winning the tender. As the context and the project are unique, there are no standard models for organizing the decision making during a tender. The introduction of Systems Engineering (SE) in the construction industry has led to a more structured way of working, but the application of the methods in the tender phase does not provide a suitable structure for organizing the decision making. As a result contractors struggle with designing an optimal design solution that will convince the client but will also reduce the risks associated with the construction and maintenance of the solution. In this paper we explore the implementation difficulties of SE in a large infrastructural tender. We report our initial findings of this in-depth single case study comprising document studies and open interviews with the tender team. We found that the allocation of design responsibilities between subsystems hampers cooperation for the integration of design and that the used SE approach lacks guidance for organizing a collaborative design process. We make propositions for further research and recommendations based on these initial findings. Subject infrastructure tendersdesign decisionssystems engineering To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dba8be6b-b107-4900-b82b-8b675c146590 Source EPOC 2013: Working Papers Proceedings - Engineering Project Organization Conference, Colorado, USA, 9-11 July 2013 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type conference paper Rights (c) 2013 The Author(s) Files PDF 295615.pdf 440.25 KB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:dba8be6b-b107-4900-b82b-8b675c146590/datastream/OBJ/view