Last edited 24 Sep 2018

Consultant's proposals for design and construction

The process of selecting consultants might involve the preparation by the client of a request for proposals to be sent out to each prospective consultant. Consultants respond by submitting consultant's proposals to the client.

The request for proposals describes the nature of the project, the nature of the appointment and the information required from the consultant.

The strategic brief.
The management structure.
The scope of consultant services required.
A description of how fees should be quoted and broken down against stages of the project.
The project programme.
The construction budget (without contingencies and VAT).
The intended method of procurement (or a request for options if the procurement route has not been chosen yet).
The form of agreement and conditions of engagement (such as step-in rights, warranties and so on).
The level of professional indemnity insurance required.
The selection criteria that will be used to identity the preferred candidate.
The procedure that will be followed.
If Building Information Modelling (BIM) is being used, the Employer's Information Requirements (EIR).

It might request consultant's proposals including:

A list of key personnel to be allocated to the project, their role in the project, CVs of staff and a description of relevant experience on similar projects.
Hourly rates to be applied to any work outside the proposed scope of services.
Identification of any sub-consultants the candidate intends to use.
A broken-down payment and resource schedule with trigger dates against work stages.
Evidence of professional indemnity insurance.
If BIM is being used, a response to the employer’s information requirements, detailing their proposed approach, capability, capacity, competence, training needs and so on.
The hardware and software that will be used.
A list of recently-completed commissions with referees and details of other consultants involved.
A statement of design intent based on the brief.

If the request for proposals involves significant design work from the consultant, it is good practice for the client to offer payment for the work involved in preparing these designs. This will encourage the consultant to prepare their proposal more carefully, and will also demonstrate to them that the client is serious about the project and is likely to treat them fairly.