Which procurement route typically places the most design risk on the client?

• A. Traditional
• B. Design-and-build
• C. Management contracting
• D. All routes

Answer: (A)

In this topic, the key issue is how design risk is allocated between the client and the contractor. Design risk is the chance that the project design is incomplete, flawed, or leads to changes, cost overruns, or performance problems.

In the traditional procurement route, design and construction are separate: the client and their design team develop the complete design before any construction contract is let. If there are errors, omissions, or ambiguities in that design, the client and their consultants bear the responsibility and cost to fix them, and changes during construction trigger client-approved variations. The contractor is simply required to build to the provided design, so little of the design risk is shifted to them.

By contrast, design-and-build places design responsibility with the contractor, so the client transfers much of the design risk to the contractor. Management contracting distributes risk more between client and manager, with the client still bearing significant responsibility but some risk being shared through the management arrangement.

Thus, the traditional route places the most design risk on the client.