Throughout 2008, DBIA has been having a series of meetings with the House of Representatives and Senate as it pertains to both the Appropriations and authorization/oversight processes concerning the significance of design-build with the federal government.
The concept here has been to have in-depth discussions about the design-build project delivery method while working to affect change with the way federal dollars are made available (appropriated) for design and construction. This is our effort to change the current environment of money being made available in two, separate bundles for design and construction, which has long been the case, versus money being accessed more effectively in one bundle.
Our goal is to articulate that there is a better way of doing business vis-à-vis an overall time factor while conveying that design-build is a viable option for the federal government, which would lead to more mileage out of federal dollars being spent on design and construction. We will also be meeting with the staff of the House and Senate leadership in this respect before the year’s end. With all of this in mind, we realize how important the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is in this process and we have begun an important dialogue with OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) as it pertains to the management side of OMB. Furthermore, in early October, DBIA will have a second meeting with OMB with this session being on the budget side of OMB and OFPP.
Additionally, DBIA has been in to see the FBI with regard to its upcoming $1 billion new headquarters building which will begin to take hold in the near to medium-term future. Over the next few months the FBI expects to finalize its numbers in terms of personnel working in its new facility, and our goal is to make this a design-build project. At this stage there is a good rapport with the FBI and their plans for a new base in the greater Washington, D.C., area.
Also, DBIA is in communication with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with respect to our interest in meeting with the Office of Construction and Facility Management. The VA is underway with its long-term building process under the auspices of its Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) program, and it is DBIA’s intention to meet with the VA to promote the design-build project delivery method with its major, nationwide building program.
Looking ahead, along with the meetings that have been conducted to date with the Senate and House, DBIA will begin to focus its specific efforts on additional, key Members on Capitol Hill in endeavoring to put forward design-build Legislative language in the upcoming, 111th Congress next year.