1.0　INTRODUCTION

1.1　THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER CONSULTANT SELECTION

Selecting a consultant is one of the most important decisions and owner or client makes.The success of any project often depends upon obtaining the most able，experienced and reputable expertise available.

The best project results are achieved when there is a true professional relationship of absolute trust between the client and the consultant.This is because the consultant must make sound，objective decisions and act in the best interest of his client at all times.The method of selection should therefore seek to develop mutual confidence between the two parties.

There are two key points to consider when deciding what method of selection to employ：

●　Since precise professional performance specifications cannot be written，it is difficult，if not impossible，to equitably apply the principles of competitive bidding.That is to say，if the competition is based on price，different consultants may anticipate providing very different levels of service.Although it is possible to write a performance specification for the physical aspects of the project itself，it is very difficult to write suitable specifications for how a consultant should perform.This difficulty arises because factors such as the extent of investigations，the consideration of alternatives or the quality of design and level of innovation cannot be quantified.Each factor not only depends on the mechanics and procedures employed in executing professional work，but also upon the expertise，experience，judgement，innovation and imagination of the consultant and the supporting staff working on the project.

●　Successful consulting services depend on sufficient time spent by properly qualified people.Thus the method of selection should not force fees down to the point where consultants cannot afford to assign properly qualified staff for sufficient periods of time.Inadequate fees lead to the reduction of the scope and quality of the service by spending less time on the project or assigning lower paid and usually less qualified personnel to the project.Thus lower consulting fees give no assurance of lower total project costs.Inadequate engineering often leads to higher construction costs.All of which are likely to cost far more than the potential saving made on design fees.

1.2　PRICE AS AN ELEMENT IN SELECTION

Few clients are likely，in fact，to select their consultant on price alone as it is obvious that satisfactory professional services depend on qualifications and competence.Because of this，some jurisdictions and client bodies specifically forbid selection of consulting engineers on the basis of price.The dilemma facing the client is how to balance ability against price，and how to quantify what is traded off in technical competence，managerial ability and trust against a perceived cheaper service.

However，despite the use of well-tried methods of selection that rely upon an assessment for the consultant's ability，experience and integrity，there is often severe pressure for consultants to compete with each other on the price of their services.

“One factor，qualifications，far outweighs all other considerations in retaining consultants，especially price.”

The Institute for Municipal Engineering，a division of the American Public Works Association

In some countries there is pressure on a client to award all contracts to the lowest bidder.This is because competitive bidding is often the best method of procuring equipment and goods which can be specified precisely.However，this method has been adopted for the procurement of professional services without thought of the difficulties of specifying most consultancy services.Social，and to a limited extent，legislative pressures are put on clients to use competitive selection in an attempt to prevent or at least restrict abuse.Unhappily most methods of selection are open to manipulation of one sort or another.The best way to avoid this is to form a widely based selection committee，possibly with the assistance of independent consultants and to adopt the procedure outlined in these guidelines.

Several methods of selection have been devised that take account of price early in the selection procedure.Unfortunately，once price is used as a determining factor in the selection procedure，it can and sometimes is designed to dominate the objective assessment of the other factors，some of which could be far more significant to the final project results than any saving in the cost of professional services.

1.3　SELECTION BASED ON QUALITY

The method that best meets all factors is qualitybased selection.That is，the client chooses the consultant on the basis of professional competence，managerial ability，availability of resources，professional independence，fairness of fee structure，professional integrity and quality assurance systems.

The recommended procedure for selection of consulting firms is to：

●　identify potential firms with relevant experience

●　select the most appropriate firm

●　negotiate the fee on a mutually agreed upon scope of services with the selected firm and execute appropriate agreement terms.

Both client and the consultant should protect their interests by using the FIDIC Client/Consultant Model Services Agreement-‘The White Book’-when drawing up the contract for consulting services.