Design reviews involve a formalized,structured approach to assure interdisciplinary coordination and compliance with design criteria and environmental, site, and operational constraints.
Design reviews are conducted to assure quality of products in development.
Design reviews generally occur at the following points in the design process: design criteria, conceptual, preliminary engineering, or 30 percent, 60 percent, 90 percent, 100 percent, and bid documents.
For a design/bid/build project, the project manager coordinates and oversees reviews at the design criteria, conceptual, preliminary engineering, 30 percent, 60 percent, 90 percent, 100 percent, and bid documents stages. The percent refers to the approximate ratio of design budget spent over total design budget. Reviews at these points in design are key control points to the design management process. A design review is a detailed, analytical, and unbiased approach used to verify that the appropriate deliverables (e.g., studies, final drawings, technical specifications, and construction bid documents) are being prepared and that the design consultant is maintaining pace with the budget and project schedule. In addition, during each review, a current construction cost estimate should be reviewed and compared against the anticipated cost.
For each design review, you make certain that the design manager will ensure the following key objectives are accomplished, as applicable to the particular review:
• Adherence to design criteria, environmental documents
• Quality of the design
• Identification of errors and omissions
• Building codes compliance
• Operational and functional objectives are met
• Coordination between engineering disciplines
• Adherence of cost estimates to the budget
• Designers’ feedback before progressing further
• Design is biddable, constructible, and cost-effective
• Interface compatibility: adjacent project elements and the existing transit system
• Final construction contract documents comply with the design criteria, environmental document, codes, and regulations