Most owners are familiar with this delivery method where each stage follows the others in a linear progression with no overlap. After securing the services of an architect, who reports directly to the owner, plans and specifications will be drafted, and then contractors will bid for the project. The lowest responsive, responsive bidder is awarded the project, which progress exactly as designed.
Advantages:
Being a familiar method, Competitive Bid projects are an easier sell, and they're easier to manage because the scopes and stages are rigidly defined. Because the design team and contractor both report to the owner, the owner has a greater degree of control over the process. As the name suggests, the bidding process typically results in the best price.
Disadvantages:
While the Competitive Bidding elicits low bids, the coast of a design is not determined until the bids are receieved. This could mean that a redesign is required if the bids exceed the budget, and because time is a financial factor, cost estimates can change during the design process. Th fragmented approach can also cause more finger-pointing between parities, since the contractor is not able to give advice during the design, budget, or project planning phases. Finally, the linear schedule makes this the slowest of the three methods
