Status and psychology of DBB and BOT construction project participants

Adopting the BOT (build-operate-transfer) delivery method for construction projects has brought opportunities for desired performance. Studies have investigated many issues of BOT projects such as concessionaire selection criteria or risk factors, but the soft issue of the status and psychology change of project participants from traditional DBB (design-bid-build) method is not investigated. This research explored the status and psychology of DBB and BOT project participants and drew implication for performance. By using the case study method, this study selected ten projects in which five from DBB and five from BOT methods; interviewed 36 owners, designers, constructors and other participants in 14 times; and analyzed and compared their design and construction work interaction, designer and constructor status, and owner and concessionaire psychology. It is found that for DBB civil projects performance would be stable because of completed design, more cautious owner, and respected designer that is good to performance. For BOT civil projects, performance would vary and the designer and constructor can better cooperate. The flexibility and vitality brought by the BOT mechanism should be better used to create better performance.