Budget and Schedule-Related Critical Success Factors for Design-Build Water and Wastewater Projects: Principal Component Analysis

The United States confronts significant challenges within the water and wastewater sectors. According to the American Water Works Association (AWWA), a capital investment of $1.3 trillion is necessary for the repair and replacement of water infrastructures in the United States over the next 25 years. As alternative delivery methods are new in the water and wastewater sectors, the utility owners lack expertise and experience in executing these delivery methods. Thus, it is important to investigate the critical success items and factors of Design-Build (DB) methods, thereby ensuring that projects are completed within scheduled timeframes and budgets with better quality. To address this need, the present study undertakes a comprehensive literature review to identify the critical success factors associated with DB methods. Subsequently, a survey is conducted among both public and private utility owners to rank these items. The study identifies top critical success items related to completing projects within schedule and budget. Through principal component analysis, five budget- and schedule-related critical success factors were extracted. The outcomes of this study are the top critical success items and factors, thereby providing valuable insights for water and wastewater utility owners to focus on these items and factors intensively and help them execute the projects with great success.