DBIA Exam Questions and Verified Answers Graded A+ 2026/27
Project Delivery System - How team members are organized, establishes when parties
engage, determines roles of parties, and determines sequence of design, procurement, and
construction (db, cmar, dbb)
Procurement Method - how team members are selected (QBS, best value, low price, sole
source)
contracting approach - how team members are paid (fp, gmp, cost reimbursement, target
price, unit price)
Design-Bid-Build (DBB) - linear, sequential process, A/E selected on qualifications, GC
selected on low price, design is fully completed without input from GC, A/E acting in owner's
interests, with a historically strong bond, process is well-established and understood
construction manager at risk - similar org structure to DBB, construction manager selected
by QBS or best value, contractor provides precon services, negotiated gmp contracting approach,
open book estimating process, potential to fast track project, construction cost determined before
design completed, potential issues over what is reasonably inferable from gmp design documents
Design-Build - The owner contracts with one entity (a person or firm) to provide both
design and construction services, designer and contractor have a direct contractual relationship,
selected by QBS or best value, wide spectrum of contracting approaches and organizational
structures, single point responsibility, owner does not manage designer, owner exposure to
claims is significantly reduced
,engineer procure construct (epc) - similar to design build, in industrial and power
generation sectors, systems and performance testing are central to scope, contractor will typically
perform engineering with its in-house staff, owner has need for single point responsibility,
contracts include plant and process performance guarantees, contract items include performance
and schedule liquidated damages and limitations of liability
Multiple Prime Contracting - owner contracts with multiple trade contractors, attributes
are typically similar to dbb, owner's ability to schedule and coordinate the work
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) - multi-party agreement - all parties equal, QBS
procurement and target pricing contract approach, private sector use (limited at this time), key:
owner's ability to accept risk
public-private partnership (p3) - Instead of government building and maintaining major
infrastructure (such as highway, water treatment plant), build and maintenance is outsourced to a
private company. Opposed by public sector unions. this is not considered a delivery system but
its underlying approaches are delivery systems and typically use DB. multiple procurement and
contracting approaches
shift left - intense efforts to establish scope early in the process; drives early team
formation to include key trade subcontractors; can enable big decisions to be made early, affect
project outcomes at lowest cost, establish a need for co-location and collaboration, and compress
time during concurrent design and construction
, traditional design build - typically two-phase best value procurement with lump sum
contract; owner defines project requirements and scope of prescriptive work; use of
performance-based technical requirements with limited prescriptive specifications
progressive design build - design and price are progressively developed after the design-
builder is under contract; final project cost and schedule commitment is not established as part of
the selection process; two phases: preliminary services and final design and construction services
criteria documents - describe the end result
bridging documents - prescribes how to achieve the end result
design bid build paradigm - prior to bidding, owner undertakes a process to design the
project and all of its details to 100% complete plans and specs. the owner is therefore responsible
for success or failure of details of the design, and warrants the sufficiency of design to the
contractor. the owner is therefore liable to the contractor for any gaps between plans and
specifications and owner's requirements for project performance
design details responsibility - the owner should define its performance requirements and
award the contract on the basis of preliminary design; this makes the design-builder responsible
for completing the design in accordance with the owner's performance requirements. that also
causes the design-builder to warrant the sufficiency of the design to meet the owner's criteria and
the sufficiency of the design to subcontractors/suppliers that have no design responsibility
Project Delivery System - How team members are organized, establishes when parties
engage, determines roles of parties, and determines sequence of design, procurement, and
construction (db, cmar, dbb)
Procurement Method - how team members are selected (QBS, best value, low price, sole
source)
contracting approach - how team members are paid (fp, gmp, cost reimbursement, target
price, unit price)
Design-Bid-Build (DBB) - linear, sequential process, A/E selected on qualifications, GC
selected on low price, design is fully completed without input from GC, A/E acting in owner's
interests, with a historically strong bond, process is well-established and understood
construction manager at risk - similar org structure to DBB, construction manager selected
by QBS or best value, contractor provides precon services, negotiated gmp contracting approach,
open book estimating process, potential to fast track project, construction cost determined before
design completed, potential issues over what is reasonably inferable from gmp design documents
Design-Build - The owner contracts with one entity (a person or firm) to provide both
design and construction services, designer and contractor have a direct contractual relationship,
selected by QBS or best value, wide spectrum of contracting approaches and organizational
structures, single point responsibility, owner does not manage designer, owner exposure to
claims is significantly reduced
,engineer procure construct (epc) - similar to design build, in industrial and power
generation sectors, systems and performance testing are central to scope, contractor will typically
perform engineering with its in-house staff, owner has need for single point responsibility,
contracts include plant and process performance guarantees, contract items include performance
and schedule liquidated damages and limitations of liability
Multiple Prime Contracting - owner contracts with multiple trade contractors, attributes
are typically similar to dbb, owner's ability to schedule and coordinate the work
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) - multi-party agreement - all parties equal, QBS
procurement and target pricing contract approach, private sector use (limited at this time), key:
owner's ability to accept risk
public-private partnership (p3) - Instead of government building and maintaining major
infrastructure (such as highway, water treatment plant), build and maintenance is outsourced to a
private company. Opposed by public sector unions. this is not considered a delivery system but
its underlying approaches are delivery systems and typically use DB. multiple procurement and
contracting approaches
shift left - intense efforts to establish scope early in the process; drives early team
formation to include key trade subcontractors; can enable big decisions to be made early, affect
project outcomes at lowest cost, establish a need for co-location and collaboration, and compress
time during concurrent design and construction
, traditional design build - typically two-phase best value procurement with lump sum
contract; owner defines project requirements and scope of prescriptive work; use of
performance-based technical requirements with limited prescriptive specifications
progressive design build - design and price are progressively developed after the design-
builder is under contract; final project cost and schedule commitment is not established as part of
the selection process; two phases: preliminary services and final design and construction services
criteria documents - describe the end result
bridging documents - prescribes how to achieve the end result
design bid build paradigm - prior to bidding, owner undertakes a process to design the
project and all of its details to 100% complete plans and specs. the owner is therefore responsible
for success or failure of details of the design, and warrants the sufficiency of design to the
contractor. the owner is therefore liable to the contractor for any gaps between plans and
specifications and owner's requirements for project performance
design details responsibility - the owner should define its performance requirements and
award the contract on the basis of preliminary design; this makes the design-builder responsible
for completing the design in accordance with the owner's performance requirements. that also
causes the design-builder to warrant the sufficiency of the design to meet the owner's criteria and
the sufficiency of the design to subcontractors/suppliers that have no design responsibility
