How To Select a Professional

Retaining a capable brownfield professional is essential to the success of any brownfield project. Proceed carefully. The Institute of Brownfield Professionals (IBP) suggests that you identify five or more candidate brownfield professionals (individuals or firms) and ask each to furnish a statement of experience and qualifications. The furnished material should include information about past projects, with an emphasis on those similar to the project you’re involved with. Contact representatives of the client for each similar project. Ask about the brownfield professional’s performance; e.g., the individual’s or firm’s ability to work with client representatives in establishing an effective scope of service, ability to fulfill the scope, the reasonableness of the brownfield professional’s fee, the brownfield professional’s ability to deliver on time, and, of course, the effectiveness of the brownfield professional’s services.

Once you have identified three or more candidate brownfield professionals that you believe are suitable for your needs, interview representatives of each, asking such questions as you believe appropriate to learn about a candidate’s proposed approach to the project, the competence and experience of the individual or individuals who will be assigned, and so on. Based on the outcome of these interviews, rank the candidate brownfield professionals in order of preference, then open negotiations with the one you most prefer. Work with the candidate to develop a scope of service unique to your needs, and develop a budget for implementing that scope. We suggest that you include an allowance for contingencies that, in your and/or the candidate brownfield professional’s experience, may transpire. If the budget, schedule, scope of service, and terms and conditions that are proposed or negotiated are acceptable to you, enter into an agreement and end discussions with the other brownfield professionals you selected. If you cannot reach an agreement, conclude discussions with the most preferred candidate and open negotiations with the next-most preferred.

Asking two or more candidates to submit priced proposals or bids to facilitate selection based at least in part on fee may be unwise. No standard scope exists, nor should a standard scope be applied. The IBP believes that each project is unique, if only because no two owners or developers can have identical needs and preferences. Because each project is unique, you and your preferred brownfield professional should develop the scope of service collaboratively, so it reflects your mutual concerns. A far different outcome is all too possible if you make it clear to candidate brownfield professionals that the likelihood of their being selected is inversely proportional to the fee each submits. Doing that can encourage each candidate to propose the skimpiest scope possible, because the smaller the scope, the lower the fee can be. As it so happens, project risk is inversely proportional to scope; i.e., the weaker the scope, the more likely it is that a project will experience more and more severe “unanticipated” or “unforeseen” conditions that can result in delays, the need for additional financing or time extensions, and disputes, any one of which can create problems severe enough to result in claims, litigation, and/or other serious project disruptions.