Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.'s) require state agencies to procure construction contracts using the design-bid-build project delivery system, unless special legislation is enacted to allow the use of alternative methods. Considering the wide range of alternative delivery methods for construction contracts, this thesis focuses on design-build on public projects. Even though Massachusetts laws do not expressly prohibit design-build, they do preclude its use indirectly by requiring the separation of design and construction services, and by requiring that construction contracts be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder only after the project is fully designed. The objectives of this study are to specifically examine the reasons behind the legislature unwillingness to allow design-build as a conventional project delivery method; and to determine the likelihood that design-build will become a conventional delivery system in Massachusetts in the future. For this purpose, several academic research papers, case studies and industry reports have been reviewed. As well, pertinent sections of the M.G.L.'s and other references have been examined. Personal interviews were conducted with key representatives of the public and private sectors, who provided valuable input regarding design-build on public projects. The analysis of the information collected reveals that three principal areas seem to hinder any successful attempts to enact a legislation making design-build a conventional delivery method. These areas can be summarized as (1) loss of opportunities for the design and construction community, (2) technical and management issues at the public sector level, and (3) nature of the political environment in Massachusetts. Due to the unpredictable political environment, and the competing interests within the private sector, within the public sector, and between the private and public sectors, it is highly unlikely that design-build will become a conventional delivery method for public projects in the near future. The report concludes with recommendations to increase the likelihood of design-build to become a conventional project delivery method, considering the issues denoted above.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Thesis (LL.M.)--George Washington University, 2003. / Title from title screen (viewed Sept. 9, 2005). "August 31, 2003." "ADA417077"--URL. Includes bibliographical references. System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Also issued in paper format.

Esta tese teve como objetivo propor métodos para avaliar a elegibilidade dos modelos de concessão para projetos de infraestrutura e serviços públicos de transporte, bem como fundamentar uma teoria de estruturação desses tipos de contrato. Inicialmente o trabalho apresenta o contexto e os efeitos do surgimento de novas modalidades de concessão com a introdução da Lei de Parcerias Público-Privadas no Brasil. Investigou-se, em seguida, o estado da arte na teoria de estudos de valor das concessões, dos instrumentos de qualidade e das formas de divisão de obrigações e riscos entre o setor público e a iniciativa privada. As previsões legais vigentes para contratos administrativos dessa natureza foram também apontadas e explicadas. O núcleo da pesquisa teve como objetivo extrair o conhecimento empírico adquirido pela Administração Pública em quatro projetos selecionados de concessões em transporte. Foram analisadas as razões dentro de cada modelo desenvolvido e estabelecida uma crítica sobre as decisões de estruturação e resultados obtidos em cada empreendimento. O quadro geral das ferramentas aplicadas e a síntese da avaliação dos projetos foram desenvolvidos a partir dos estudos, com objetivo de traçar sugestões relevantes para o aprimoramento das concessões de serviços e obras de transporte no Brasil. Para o desenvolvimento completo da estrutura da concessão, foram propostos métodos de investigação das obrigações a serem transferidas ao parceiro privado, de repartição dos riscos e de utilização de mecanismos de controle de qualidade dos serviços e obras fornecidos.Entre as principais conclusões, evidenciou-se a urgência da aplicação de métodos de análise de valor das concessões durante os estudos prévios, tanto para avaliar as alternativas de estrutura dos modelos de outorga, como também comparar com o empreendimento realizado diretamente pelo Poder Público. / This thesis aimed to propose methods for assessing the eligibility of concession models for infrastructure and public transport services, and support a theory of structuring these kind of contracts. Initially, the research presented the context and purposes of concession modalities newly introduced by the brazilian Law of Public-Private Partnerships. It was investigated the state of the art on the theory about concessions evaluation, quality instruments and forms of spliting obligations and risks between the public and private initiative. The existing legal frame for this nature of public contracts were also mentioned and explained. The main objective of the research was to extract the empirical knowledgement acquired by the Public Administration in four selected transport concession projects. It were analyzed the reasons within each established model. It was developed some critique about the decisions on structuring and the obtained results on each endeavor. From these studies, it were developed the overall framework of the applied tools and the evaluation summary of the projects, aiming to outline relevant suggestions for the improvement of the concessions for transportation services in Brazil. For the full development of concessions structures, it were proposed methods of investigation about obligations to be transferred to the private partner, share the risk and use of mechanisms for quality control of works and services provided. Among the key conclusions, the study showed up the urgency of the application of concession evaluation methods during the precedent studies, both to assess the alternatives structures of models for concession, as well as to compare with the business conducted directly by the Government.

This thesis deals with the issue of corruption in public procurement. The main aspect of the work is to compare the transparency of public procurement in selected towns of Pilsen, South Bohemia, Karlovy Vary and Ústí Region in the years 2006 - 2014. Based on the data of public procurement were observed characteristics, that highlight the risk of corruption. Partial aim was to assess possible influence of political environment and their changes on the practice and transparency of public procurement. The results show, that the towns, which are positively evaluated in terms of their transparency are characterized by high participation in elections and low unemployment rate. According to the results, towns with higher levels of economic and social capital rate are generally better evaluated in their transparency. The influence of variables characterizing the political environment on the transparency of public procurement, was not proved. Keywords: public procurement, potential corruption, regional differencies, towns, z-index

Magister Legum - LLM / This study generally centres on the debate about the impact of privatisation on socio-economic rights and services. The specific objective of the study is to establish whether the privatisation of water services in South Africa has led to denial of access, either through the lack of availability of a commercialised, cost-recovery service, or denial of access because of hight rates and resultant inability to pay. The study analysed how this has impacted on the states constitutional and international human rights obligation and how the resultant problems can be addressed. It examines whether or not privatisation, which is basically aimed at improving service delivery and bringing countries in line with globalisation principles, has actually achieved that objective. / South Africa

No description available.

Dissertation thesis focuses on principles of multi-criteria decision-making in public contracts. The theoretical section of the thesis introduces principles and methods of multi-criteria decision-making including the determination of their suitability for public contracts. It also cover characteristics and specifics of purchasing via public contracts and findings of previous research conducted in the Czech Republic and foreign countries. Own empirical research comprises two parts. The first part of research is based on data about public contracts from the Czech Republic between 2011 and 2013 announced via the Information System on Public Contracts. The data allow investigating criteria and their weights used by contracting entities in relationship to characteristics of the public contracts; especially the subject-matter and the value of the contract. The second part of the research is based on sample data file of contract announcements for contracts evaluated according to the economic advantageousness of the tender. The data allow investigating methods of multi-criteria decision making and approaches to qualitative criteria. Findings from the theory and the conducted research were source for a normative model for selection of criteria and methods of multi-criteria decision-making. The goal of the model is to enhance the quality of decision-making in the field of public contracts. The most important contribution of the model is the connection of the three key parts of multi-criteria decision-making; criteria, its weights and methods of multi-criteria decision-making.

Since 1976 public agencies in Oregon have been allowed to select construction contractors using a "qualification" based competition instead of the more typical lowest responsible bid or Design-Bid-Build (DBB) basis. Since 1985, at least 136 such selections, commonly known as CM/GC for Construction Manager/General Contractor, have been made. The results of this policy have not previously been analyzed. This research compares these selection methods, seeking to answer the following questions: Does the CMl/GC method result in projects that differ from DBB projects regarding cost and schedule control? Are CMl/GC projects more efficient than DBB projects, where efficiency is defined as the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technical efficiency score? Does efficiency depend on an interaction between project type and the selection method? How do project stakeholders evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of the two selection methods? How do projects compare when the only apparent difference between them is the selection method? To answer these questions, we identified 407 Oregon public building construction projects and obtained a variety of data, including cost and schedule results, for 215 jobs (111 CMl/GC and 104 DBB). We analyzed the data several ways, including statistical analysis, DEA, and various qualitative methods. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the CMl/GC and DBB projects regarding cost and schedule control. The DEA technical efficiency scores showed that CMl/GC projects outperformed the DBB projects. There was no interaction effect between project type and selection method. Project stakeholders stated that reduction of risk is the principal benefit of using CMl/GC; however, architects and subcontractors are less enthusiastic than owners and general contractors. Data on two nearly identical projects indicated that the DBB project was less costly than the comparable CMlGC project and also incurred less cost growth; both projects were completed on time. To summarize, this research fails to find support for the current Oregon law that exempts certain projects from competitive bidding based on the presumption that CMl/GC will lead to substantial cost savings but does indicate that the CMl/GC projects may be better able to accommodate accelerated project schedules.

The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not the South African public procurement regime, within the framework set out in section 217(1) of the Constitution 1996, complies with the internationally accepted objectives or principles of public procurement, as contained in the UNCITRAL Model Law on the Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services (1994) and the World Trade Organisation‟s Plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement, and how these objectives are balanced with the need for the government‟s socio-economic policies. The main features of the public procurement reforms after South Africa became a constitutional state are the provision of constitutional principles applicable to public procurement; the creation of a single national legislative framework in terms of the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 and the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003, applicable to organs of state in the national, provincial and local spheres of government; and the creation of a supply chain management function that is fully integrated with the financial management processes in government, in which decisions on public procurement are decentralised to the procuring entities. The following broad principles applicable to public procurement, which are common to the Model Law and the GPA, were identified: (a) Economy; (b) Competitiveness; (c) Effectiveness; (d) Transparency; (e) The combating of abuse; (f) The avoidance of risk; (g) Accountability; (h) Fairness and equitability; and (i) Integrity. / Private Law / LL.D.